Ripples of Magic
by shayniie
Summary: (DONE!) 34 years after OotP, a new generation of young witches and wizards begin their education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even with Voldemort gone, they have their own issues and challenges to overcome. -MAJOR CHARACTER DEATHS-
1. Prologue

Title: Ripples of Magic

Author: shayniie

Rating: R (I lied earlier, Chapters 16 and 17 have some innuendo, language and sexual situations that do not fit under the PG-13 rating)

Summary: Thirty-four (34) years after OotP (Order of the Phoenix), a new generation of witches and wizards reach Hogwarts and go through their own hardships. Ripples of Magic is the story of their first year.

Disclaimer: Hogwarts, all characters and events up to the end of OotP belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: **MAJOR CHARACTER DEATHS!** If you do not like the thought of your darling Harry, Hermione or Ron dying, this is not the fic for you. It's a rather dark story and will have deaths throughout all seven parts. This story operates on what Rowling may not have told us. She writes from Harry's point of view and, as such, he may not know how others feel about eachother. The main character exists on the assumption that his grandmother was manipulative, as was his mother. Yes, pureblood wizards are inbred. Rowling has covered that often in her books and I only intensified the portrayal.

Be patient with my updates, I still have school and a social life to tend to.

I also apologize for the previous lack of any definition to show change of point of view. I've now added horizontal lines to indicate them, as nothing else works.

That said, please Read and Review, though don't bite my head off because I did something you don't like. Yes, I know my pairings could have been different and are unorthodox. I will explain them when I write the prequel(s) after the series itself.

* * *

All was quiet over Europe that night. A cloak of silence, it appeared, had settled on the human populace so that none stayed awake. Even the infamous insomniacs and defiant vigilantes had long gone to bed. Criminals and law upholders seemed to have reached an unspoken truce that night so that nothing broke the peaceful silence. The wild creatures had quieted, their sides expanding and contracting placidly with each breath as they slept. Those of the night also seemed to tread particularly quietly, so as to no disturb the peace.

Even Romania, the land of the infamous dragons, was held in the peaceful silence. The fire-breathing beasts either slept or watched the night quietly. Not even they dared to break the calm silence that seemed to grip the world. Not for many years had such a peace fallen over the world.

It was right, as well, for Voldemort had finally gone. After countless years of killing and plundering, he had lost. A fierce undercurrent of remorse, sorrow and loss tinged the silence, as if it were a moment to remember all those lost. An exceptional number were gone from the ranks of the wizards, all of whom would be greatly missed. Even the Muggles slept quietly, oblivious as to why the world was in peace but knowing it was a good silence.

In a quaint home in the quiet wild, near to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the peace was broken by the tossing and turning of one man. His hair was jet black, his eyes a vibrant grey and he was staring up at the ceiling of his home from where he lay in his bed. Alone, for he had lost whom he cared about the most in the world. "Lily..." He moaned, rolling over on his side.

It seemed to take forever for him to finally fall into slumber like the rest of the world and, by then, he had shed all the tears he possessed and woken the great horned owl perched in the room beside his. The owl, ruffling her feathers importantly, flew into his room and watched him with worry as she alighted on the bedside table. There she settled and watched over him, not knowing why he was sad but knowing that the absence of the other grown human was permanent.

* * *

The next morning dawned as red as ever seen in the world, no matter where one was. In Japan, they pointed it out and whispered of bloodshed, as they did in Romania, England, France, Africa, the Caribbean and Canada. All the wizards of the world raised their wands in tribute to their heroes, those well-known and those not. They raised their mugs in a toast to the survivors and all the participants in the world. Then, they celebrated survival.

The Muggles of the world noticed the strange people wearing cloaks as they had over thirty-eight years before when Voldemort had vanished for the first time. This time, they did not whisper a single name but numerous ones. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Rubeus Hagrid and even blubbering Neville Longbottom. All were gone now, but their legacies lived on in tales told to the next generation. The old Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was now gone and replaced by very capable Percy Weasley, who was no idiot.

One institute was hit hard by the battle, having lost the majority of its old professors to the battle, and quite a few of its new ones as well. Headmaster Dumbledore was replaced by a certain Bill Weasley, who had left his Gringotts job as soon as he was asked to take the position. Seamus Finnigan took Professor McGonagall's place as transfiguration teacher when sources informed the governors that he had not lit anything on fire for over twenty-five years. A young stranger by the name of Vince Wolfgang took the Care of Magical Creatures post, while Ginny Weasley replaced the valiant Professor Flitwick. Hannah Abbott took the place of Neville Longbottom, who had taken over for Professor Sprout only three years before. Young miss Lavender Brown took the position of Divination teacher for Trelawney, who had died in the battle due to her horrible lack of duelling skills and sheer determination to attend it. Madam Pomfrey was the last 'final battle' casualty, replaced by Padma Patil as she was determined to save lives to make up for her twin's death. All in all, over half the posts had to be refilled.

But the wizard communities of the world would go on. It was not in their collective nature to die out. Though those of Europe – more specifically, that of England and those with ties to Hogwarts – were hardest hit, they prevailed. They banded together like never before to aid each other in these hard times.

It was astonishing to see so many father- or mother-less children in the following years. Families drew closer, helping those who had lost spouses out of the good of their hearts. Some even took in family friends who had lost their significant others and orphans had many willing to take them in. After close inspection once they had come of age, it was discovered that the generation of freedom, as they came to be called, were more powerful wizards and witches than those before them.

* * *

Quietly, Athen Black walked through the Romanian country, heading for a good friend's. A small child – his daughter – skipped gleefully at his side. She had been born fifteen days early and, thus, fifteen days before the battle. Fifteen days before he lost the one he adored the most. Since then, he had sunk obsessively into his duties as an Auror. He seemed determined to track down all the remaining dark witches and wizards there were, and he was succeeding.

The reason he was going so far from home with his five-year old daughter at his side was because he knew he would not be coming back this time. He was not completely useless in the foretelling arts, though he preferred not to disclose such to his friends. After all, one of the sons of the pureblood families of Black and Malfoy could not rightfully admit to such rubbish.

"Now, Zephari, I want you to be very nice to Uncle Charlie while I'm gone." He said, his breath catching in his throat as he turned to look at her.

She looked so much like her mother, despite her black hair and other small differences. She had a petite frame and a pretty face, all of which was from her mother; but her eyes... They were steely grey like his, with a very thin rim of green around the iris. Most thought her eyes were simply grey, until closer inspection. She was very much like her mother, which was one reason he found it hard to look her in the eyes.

"I'm always nice to Uncle Charlie." She said, smiling adoringly up at him. "He lets me help with the dragons when I am. And I'm nice to Aunt Tonks too! And the cousins, though Seamus is annoying sometimes."

He chuckled slightly, ruffling her slightly bushy hair. "That's my Zeph." He said, smiling.

He could not help but feel that he was betraying her in a way, leaving her here. He felt that he should tell her everything, about himself and her mother. He had a letter saved with Charlie, telling him to give it to her when she turned sixteen. But, looking at her trusting face, her laughing smile, he could not help but feel a pang of guilt. Sighing slightly, he looked back at the path they followed.

Lily and himself had been young, far too young, to have a daughter of their own. Whatever had made them think they were old enough was ludicrous fantasy. Maybe it was because they thought they would be able to count on each other, but they had not. Not after Halloween that year. Then again, watching her as she skipped along at his side, her small bottle green dress's bow bobbing in the middle of her back, he had no regrets except that he wished Lily could see her. She would have been proud.

The poor little tyke had no family left now, however. Her mother and maternal grandparents had died in the war, as had her paternal grandmother, though on opposite sides. Her paternal grandfather did not even know Athen was his son, let alone that Athen had a daughter. Even if her maternal grandparents had been alive, he would not have been able to entrust them with her care. They, too, had been too young when they had Lily. Even younger than Lily and himself had been when they had Zephari!

But that had been an accident. Lily's parents had been under the effects of polyjuice and the Imperius curse when she was conceived. Such was impossible, most said, when told the story. One could not conceive when in polyjuice. Such was true, but the polyjuice wore off before the curse was lifted and they were rescued. Still, they had had a hard time raising her, even when they had married soon after. It seemed her mother had not wanted to raise her without a defined father.

Nobody knew back then, or now for that matter, that Lily's mother had been in love with another man at the time. She wanted to hide such a fact, obviously, so that it would seem that she had had Lily with the man she loved so much. Soon enough, she realized that she loved her husband more than the other, which was all for the better when the other man married. However, it was not as if her mother never saw the man again. To the contrary, she saw him as much as she saw her uncles, which was often. The Weasleys were a tight bunch, after all.

"Ooh! Look, daddy! I can see the reserve!" The black-haired child whispered excitedly. She rarely raised her voice in excitement. When she did raise it, it was to have her opinion heard loud and clear. "Do you think Uncle Charlie's gotten more dragons since we were last here?" She asked; excitement in every syllable.

He smiled. "We'll just have to see. Ah, look, there he is now with your cousin Dante."

"Dante's really smart, y'know, daddy. She knows lots of things that Seamus, Wyn and Chance don't! Sometimes she even outsmarts Uncle Charlie!" Zephari told him, her prideful gaze falling on her cousin.

"Is that so?" Athen asked, humouring her for the sake of keeping her happy for the final time he would see her.

"Yes, it is so." She replied pertly before breaking into a run and jumping into her uncle's arms with a happy cry of "Uncle Charlie".

Athen followed at a slow pace, calmly observing how well his daughter took to the man whom he had come to trust above all others since Lily first invited him home for Christmas in their fourth year. What a shock they had had, having a full-fledged Slytherin mongrel in their house and not a comment from him. He had even managed to keep his tongue in check when speaking to Lily's mother, who was muggle-born. For all that he disliked muggle-borns, muggles themselves and half-bloods, he had been too smitten with the fiery-haired beauty to chance her disapproval. He and Charlie had instantly hit it off, despite the amazingly large age difference between them. Charlie had, after all, graduated Hogwarts before Athen's parents even arrived there.

When he walked up, the red-headed Weasley put her down. "Dante, why don't you and Zeph go help Mum in the kitchen?" He suggested kindly.

"Okay! C'mon, Ari, Mum's baking cookies the way Grandmum showed her!" Dante said, tugging on her slightly older 'cousin's' sleeve.

Charlie smiled as he watched both girls dash off in the direction of the sprawling one-story, dragon-proof, house. "She's even more like Lily every time I see her." He murmured slightly, then sighed at Athen's pained look and clapped him on the shoulder. "So you're really going to go through with this, are you?"

"I can't not go through with it now, can't I?" The younger man retorted rather sharply.

"You could just not go after him." Charlie pointed out.

"He'd come after me. This way, Zeph is safe and I'll either avenge her, or join her." Athen growled.

"So long as you don't become a ghost."

"That would be rather unfortunate."

"I think you just might become one, just to spite yourself."

"You haven't changed a bit, Charlie Weasley."

"Neither have you, Athen Black."

"But, knowing me and all, I just might become a ghost to spite myself."

Charlie chuckled, then sobered. "How are you holding up?"

"Barely." Athen answered truthfully with a small sigh, looking in the direction Zephari had run, "I haven't told her I'm not coming back. I couldn't..."

Charlie nodded sympathetically. "Not blaming you, brother. Don't worry, I'll give her your letter when she's sixteen and we'll take as good care of her as we do of Dante."

"Oh, great, now I'm worried."

"Why?"

"I've seen how you treat that child, with candy and treats and all that. I can't have my girl going off and ending up in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff now can I?"

Charlie laughed outright and that made Athen smile. "Don't you worry, my friend, Draco Malfoy might as well have been adopted by Mum, so he'll be a vicious Slytherin influence for her."

"Good."

"Though, personally, I wouldn't want that ferret-y git teaching my kids."

"I still don't get that ferret comment."

"Mad-Eye Moody transfigured him into a white ferret in his fourth year for striking Harry from behind. Funny thing is, his curse missed anyways." Charlie told him, grinning. "We've never forgiven him for it."

"I also heard that Hermione slapped him in their third year."

Charlie nodded, smirking slightly. "It was bloody brilliant, Ron said. Then again, he was always smitten with her, though it greatly intensified when she hit him."

Athen grinned. "Bet old Draco didn't like either of those instances."

"You can bet he didn't. However, he was a snivelling coward then, always whimpering when he was even slightly hurt or threatened."

"What made him change?" He asked, never having held a conversation with someone so eager to talk about his father in such a blunt fashion before. He and Charlie usually stayed off the subject of past events, but – since Voldemort's death – they seemed to do the exact opposite.

"Sixth year, Harry, Ron and Hermione saved his life. He then saved theirs later on. That was when he finally realized how little point there was to becoming a Death Eater and became a grudging member of the 'good side'. He never let on until he refused the Dark Mark in the summer of his seventh year. That was when Mum warmed up to him." Charlie answered, smiling slightly.

"Funny, he still got together with a dark witch after all that."

"Ah, well, he went undercover for a bit. You were the result of one of his first Auror missions as himself and he married Pansy Parkinson five years before... well, you know what. He has two sons, you know; Kai and Sirius."

"Sirius?" Athen repeated, surprised that a Malfoy was given his 'traitor' grandfather's name.

The Weasley grinned. "Aye, named after Sirius Black, since Ron and Hermione already had a Harry and he didn't dare name his kid after any other Gryffindor."

Athen shook his head. For all that Malfoy was on the good side of the war, he still had some defined pureblood and Slytherin attitudes. As did Athen, now that he thought about it, for he had been raised by one of the snobbiest dark witches there was. "Who took in Remus's son again?" He asked, curious.

Charlie shrugged. "I don't know. We decided that whoever took him in should never disclose his true parentage. Sons of werewolves are not highly regarded, as you are well aware."

Athen nodded. He had heard about Remus Lupin's struggles to find employment all his life and Remus's eldest son had been hunted down by dark witches and wizards as soon as he reached Hogwarts. Aurors and the school staff could not save him by the time they found him. Not only was he an openly anti-Voldemort boy, but he was also a werewolf's boy. Worst thing was they could not apprehend any of those who did it, as they had fled the scene.

Charlie led them to his rooftop viewing area, used for observing the dragons from a vantage point, to continue their talking. Charlie's wife, Nymphadora Tonks, joined them after having put the girls under the second eldest boy's watchful eyes. They spent the majority of the day talking on that rooftop, moving to the kitchen when it came time to prepare supper. Athen helped with the preparations as, being a single father, he was quite the cook.

The two families, though Athen hardly counted himself and Zephari a family of their own, dined together at the long table. It was punctuated by the usual Weasley family conversations and arguments between siblings. Ten year olds Carly and Thomas agreed on almost everything the other said, but nothing that the fifteen year old Seamus said. The twenty-one year olds Wynifred and Chance held a rather animated conversation with the adults, having only just returned from work – at the Ministry as an Auror, for Wynifred and around the reserve as a dragon researcher for Chance – between mouthfuls of delicious mashed potatoes.

After supper, the moment Athen had been dreading the most came; time to leave his daughter and go after the man personally responsible for his dear Lily's death. He took her gently by the hand and led her outside onto the front porch. He crouched in front of her and looked up into her pretty face. "It's time for me to go, sweetie." He said softly.

The five year old scrunched up her face in a frown and hugged him. "Stay one more night?" She pleaded, burying her face in his collar.

"I can't, dearest." He sighed, hugging her back. "Promise me you'll be good to Uncle Charlie, Aunt Tonks and your cousins?"

"I promise. If I'm good to all the other cousins and aunts and uncles, will you come back faster?" She whispered in his ear.

He laughed quietly, dispiritedly. "I'm going away for a very long time this time, Zephie." He told her seriously. "I'll probably miss your birthday, and Christmas too."

She began to cry and he hugged her tighter. "I don't want you to go!" She whimpered.

"I'm never truly gone, Zephari." He reminded her, as they had had this talk often before. "I'm always with you."

She placed her palm on her heart, drawing back slightly. "I know you're here, Daddy, but I want _here_, with me." She said innocently.

"I'll always be in your heart, there with Mum." He told her, standing. "Now, what do you say you give me another hug before I go?"

She hugged him with such fierceness that it surprised him. "I love you, Daddy." Her voice was muffled due to her face being pressed against his robes.

"And I love you, Zeph." He murmured, stroking her hair.

"Be safe." She told him, drawing back and sniffing, wiping her tears on the back of her hand, "and don't make me tell Grandmum that you've gone off and gotten yourself hurt!"

He smiled adoringly down at her. "I won't. Remember what I told you about never giving up?"

"Never give up, never surrender." She answered, smirking devilishly, "and I can do whatever I believe I can, so long as I try hard at it. Giving up is only for stinking Hufflepuffs!"

He made small hushing sounds, laughing all the while. "Don't say that in front of your uncles or aunts." He warned.

"But Uncle Draco taught me it." She pointed out.

"Alright, only in front of Uncle Draco then." He amended. "Now, where's my good bye kiss?"

"You ask for a lot of good bye things." She teased as he picked her up and kissed him four times, twice on each cheek.

"That I do, but I want to make sure I didn't forget anything." He replied, putting her back down.

"Your shoelace is untied." She told him, grinning. "But other than that, you're ready."

"I'll miss you, sweet-kitten" He told her, tying the offending shoelace.

"Not nearly as much as I'll miss you, papa-owl." She answered, hugging him again.

"Keep your chin up." He told her, stepping back.

"And don't trip over your feet." She replied, as she always did.

"I love you." He said again.

"I love you too, Daddy. See you when you get back." She answered, tears falling again.

With that, he smiled at her and was gone.

* * *

"We hereby mark the passing of one Athen Black, devoted husband and father, as well as loved brother, cousin and son. He protected us from dark witches and wizards until his death. His soul shall finally rest in peace." Uncle Bill intoned a year later.

The others of the congregation, all Zephari's uncles and aunts, her cousins and a bunch of people she did not know watched quietly as she moved up and picked up a handful of dirt. "I knew you'd never come back." She told the silent coffin, lying in its grave. "You're with Mum now, and happy. It's good that you're happy." With that, she tossed the dirt onto the coffin and ran back to her Uncle Charlie, crying.

She did not stop crying for a long time. She remembered Aunt Tonks coming into her room and making her eat her food a few times, but she stayed in the little room at the end of the house, staring out the window at night and keeping the curtains shut during the day. She cried until she had no tears left, only racking sobs, and then she cried again. She did not cry because she was angry, though she had been at first. No, she cried because he had not taken her with him to be with her mother again.

Finally, Dante, Carly and Thomas came into her room and gave her hugs and simply sat with her for a while. That night, she went to the dining room for supper and ate silently, before returning to her room. That night, as she lay looking up at the stars through her window, she smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. "You still see me, don't you?" She asked the stars. "You still want me to be happy and you still love me."

That marked the last of her moping days and, despite the trauma she had been through, she did not really change her character. True, she became slightly more 'evil' and 'dark', but that was only to be expected as she absorbed everything her grandfather told her when they met. She still kept a somewhat cheery disposition towards her family and friends, who were the only people she could bring herself to even be remotely courteous to. She started to turn even more against Muggles, partially blaming them for her parents' deaths, as they had not helped in the battles against Voldemort.

She also pushed away all kindness and pity, unable to stand it, and took to retreating to her room when she was displeased. She in no way wanted to hurt those she cared about by yelling at them so, instead, she simply cleared her head by returning to her darkened room.

It was later realized by those other than herself and her uncle that Athen had known he would die before it happened. The day he had left her, he had transferred all his money to her account in Gringotts. He had closed all his investments and cleared all his debts. He had basically cleaned off his and his mother's slates to leave Zephari with everything to work with.

By default, Zephari was given into Charlie Weasley's care, as he was her godfather. It was doubted that she would have let herself be removed from his care even if they wanted to. When a stranger had insulted her father in Diagon Alley one day, she had made them light on fire. Nobody wanted to chance such a powerful young witch's anger, especially if she would light them on fire.

Thus, Zephari started to blossom into a beautiful, crafty and decidedly different youngster. When her letter from Hogwarts came, nobody knew for sure what to expect when she came. All they knew was that great things could be expected from her, just as they had been expected – and created – by her relatives, both blood and not.


	2. It Begins

A/N: Once again, horizontal lines mean change of point of view or passing of time. Picky picky site, indeed. Good luck keeping all the Weasleys straight.

* * *

A soft hoot was the first sound Zephari heard in the month of August at eleven years old. She opened her eyes to see a small barn owl sitting on her chest. It hooted again and nipped at her shirt collar. The girl blinked at it and it blinked back.

Suddenly, the door to her room opened and crashed as it ricocheted off the wall. "Zeph! Zeph! Did you – oh! You did! Great! Open the letter, Zeph, it's from Hogwarts!" Her normally placid cousin cried excitedly.

The owl hooted patronizingly at the other eleven year old. His entire attitude was telling Zephari that he was irritated and she could not help but giggle. "Don't be fussy, Domey." She teased, moving him to the bedside table. He glared at her and leaped into the air, swooping out the window. She grinned at her cousin. "Lemme get dressed first, kay?" She asked.

Dante nodded and ran out of the room so her cousin could change. She was a stickler for her privacy, not wanting her secrets spilled. True, she had very little secrets to hide – other than her fear of the dark, extreme liking for chocolate and the fact that she was extremely ticklish. Then again, most eleven year olds had those sorts of secrets.

She pulled a pair of black robes over her head after pulling on a green tee and black pants. Zephari then grabbed the letter and ripped it open. It read.

_Dear Ms. Black,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Soon, you and your schoolmates will join us here, and your education in the magical arts will begin._

She was forced to stop reading there as her cousin burst back in, followed by her older twin cousins Carly and Thomas. "Dante told us you got a letter too!" Carly exclaimed, taking the letter from her hands and hugging her. "I knew you'd get in!"

"Ugh, Carly..." Zephari grumbled, trying to shove away.

Thomas chuckled, "Zeph doesn't like hugs, remember Carl?" He reminded her.

"Right, sorry." Carly said, releasing the scrawny girl.

Dante bounced around the room, "Wait until Grandmum, Granddad, Uncle Bill, Uncle Fred and Uncle George and Aunt Ginny and everyone hears about this!" She squealed excitedly, "Both of us going to Hogwarts! And Zoë, too, if I'm right."

"Uncle Bill and Aunt Ginny'd already know." Zephari pointed out, "They teach, 'member?"

Dante's face fell. "Oh... right." She mumbled.

"Don't worry, Dante, I'm sure you'll do better than me when we _do_ get to Hogwarts." She said in a falsely bright voice.

The currently violet-haired girl grinned. "Not in potions, only overgrown bats are good at that stuff."

"Obviously." She replied, "Why else would Uncle Snape teach it?"

Carly giggled, "He hates it when you call him that."

Thomas shook his head, "I think that's why she does it. But we're all ignoring the reason Carly and I came running back in here with Dante: Mum and Dad want us down for breakfast. _Now_."

Carly grinned at her younger 'sisters', Dante beamed happily back at Carly and at Zephari while Zephari smirked smugly at Thomas, who simply ushered them out of the room. They ran down the hall to the kitchen.

When they entered, Aunt Tonks stood up, saying "Wotcher kids!" which Zephari repeated only to be grabbed in a smothering hug by her uncle Charlie while Tonks grabbed Dante in a similar one. "So proud of you both!" She exclaimed as they switched.

Zephari managed to break free of her aunt's hold on her with a large amount of struggling. "We only just got accepted! Give us lots of hugs when we've actually proven we're _good_ at magic, no?" She said rhetorically, crossing her arms and glaring at her aunt.

Tonks looked surprised for a moment, but recovered quickly. The little girl stalked to the table and grabbed a piece of toast, spreading jam on it as she continued, "Not that I'm not happy you're happy for us, just doesn't seem to make sense. For all we know, I could be sent back the day I reach Hogwarts."

"Nonsense." Charlie told her firmly. "Your parents were Head Girl and Head Boy and you're no Squib. I remember the day – or, well, days – when you kept lighting things on fire. Only wizards can do that."

Zephari shrugged. "Could've been flukes, you never know."

"Enough of this senseless blabbering," Tonks said firmly, "Carly, Thomas, why don't you two drag Seamus down here while the girls have their breakfasts. Then you five can go and play Quidditch outside."

Zephari's face lit up into a genuine smile at the mention of the wizard sport, as did Dante's. All of those in the Tonks-Weasley household adored Quidditch and Charlie had taught them all to fly from the moment they could safely straddle a broom. The younger kids all had a certain gift for it, making them extremely good players. Carly and Thomas were both beaters on the Gryffindor House Team at Hogwarts. Rumour had it that Carly had the makings of a good Captain once their current Seeker left Hogwarts, which would be the next year.

Dante joined her in gulping down her breakfast before the twins returned with a lovingly irritated Seamus. The five of them then paraded out of the kitchen, the twins singing some Muggle song at the top of their lungs, with their arms firmly looped between Seamus's, dragging him out of the house.

* * *

"Malfoy'll be pleased." Tonks said as soon as she was certain the children were out of earshot. "Blimey, she gets more and more like him every year."

"It's only natural; her father was raised as a pureblood after all." Charlie reminded her, standing behind her and pulling her into a gentle hug.

She leaned back against him. "I know, but it's hard to think that she might go into Slytherin. Us, raising a Slytherin bully."

"She's no bully." Her husband reminded her kindly, "She is half Slytherin, half Gryffindor. That's what makes her so unique. But I don't think we have to worry about her going to Slytherin. She doesn't have the ambition most of that lot has."

Tonks grinned slightly, "That's what _you_ think." She teased.

"Oh?"

"Girls don't tell their fathers – or adoptive fathers – everything, you know."

"Why not?" Charlie asked, perplexed.

"Did you tell _your_ mother everything?"

"You've met my mother, would you?"

"That's not the point, the point is, did you confide a lot in your mother, or did you confide more in your father?"

"You've met my father, would you confide anything in him?"

"You're being cruel to them." Tonks told him, tilting her head up to look at him.

"Indeed I am." He responded, looking down at her.

"I like it when you're evil." She purred.

* * *

"Okay, so Zeph, Carly and Seamus will be on one team, Dante and I will be on the other." Thomas announced.

"How come we're stuck with him?" Zephari and Carly demanded.

"You're more tolerant of him than I am." Thomas said innocently.

Seamus rolled his eyes. "I could take all four of you. I'm twenty-one, in case you haven't noticed."

"And still living at home," Thomas pointed out.

"Still needing Mum and Dad to take care of you," Carly added.

"What's the matter, Seamus? Will you miss Mum's bedtime stories if you leave?" Thomas asked.

"Or is it 'cause you can't land yourself a job?" Carly jeered.

The eldest red-head reddened slightly. "I'm working on it." He mumbled.

"Leave him alone." Dante said suddenly, placing her pink-robed self between the others and her eldest brother, "It's not his fault and you know it!"

Zephari felt a twinge of guilt. It was true, it was not Seamus's fault that he was what he was. He was lucky enough to even be alive, let alone still a wizard and a pitiful one at that. Seamus had had a few magical mishaps throughout his life, the most dangerous of which in his seventh year at Hogwarts. This one had nearly drained him of all magic ability, though the cause was unknown to her. All she knew was that Seamus had been a Prefect, then he lost all his magic after having taken his N.E.W.T.s.

Carly and Thomas were staring at their younger sister. "We're just teasing, Dante." Carly said.

"Well it's not funny."

It was not Dante who had spoken this time, it was Zephari. She moved to stand beside her cousin. "For all that he's awful at Quidditch, I still like Seamus." She said at their stunned expressions, shrugging slightly.

That ended the conversation for the rest of the mini-Quidditch game. The teams had automatically changed to Zephari, Dante and Seamus against the twins. Unsurprisingly, the two seasoned Quidditch players won. They trouped back to their home with their brooms over their shoulders, chatting amiably again.

"So, who do you reckon will win the House Cup this year?" Zephari asked curiously, looking up at Thomas.

"Better not be bloody Ravenclaw again." Seamus grumbled. "They won the last three years I was at Hogwarts."

"And they've won twice since then." Thomas added. "Nah, I think it'll be Hufflepuff like last year."

"Why not Gryffindor?" Dante asked, her intrigue obvious as well.

"Gryffindor just can't cut it lately." Carly admitted, though she did not seem all too sad about it, "Our Prefects are lazy, but we haven't had a Head Boy or Head Girl in ages. Therefore, we keep getting points docked. Especially since Slytherin usually has either the Head Boy or the Head Girl nowadays."

"Why?" Dante and Zephari asked in unison.

"Nobody knows. It seems the Slytherins have realized they need to work really hard now that the school isn't terrified that their Mums and Dads will hex those who do better than their children." Thomas said honestly.

"They're mostly orphans now, actually." Carly added softly. "So I suppose they want to prove they're different."

"I'd say they're finally putting that famous Slytherin ambition to a good use." Seamus muttered.

Zephari blinked at his tone. It seemed that Seamus did not like the Slytherins. Maybe they had something to do with his loss of power? She would not be surprised. After all, Gryffindor and Slytherin had a history. The fact that she existed was proof that it could be overcome. With determination, of course.

* * *

Charlie looked over his three youngest children and his adopted daughter three weeks later. "While we're at The Burrow, I want you four to be on your best behaviour." He said, his eyes lingering on Zephari as he said this. "Please remember that Malfoy, Snape and Dethol are guests, just as we are. You know what'll happen if you're courtesy is lacking."

"Pfft. He's been threatening us with that since we could walk." Carly whispered to Zephari and Dante, "Never done anything when we misbehaved, so we never found out what his big threat was all about."

"I hope that you'll try to set a better example for them when we get there, Carly." Tonks chided.

"We've been going to The Burrow every few years, Mum!" Dante said irritably, "We know what we're supposed to do, so please stop lecturing us!"

Charlie chuckled and lit a fire in the grate. "Alright, so you won't need me to tell you how to use Floo Powder?"

"Nope!" Dante and Zephari said in unison, grabbing handfuls and vanishing swiftly one after the other.

"You two have everything?" Tonks asked as the twins reached for powder.

"Yes, Mum." They chimed before Carly grabbed her trunk and dragged it into the green flames. With a dramatic "The Burrow!" she was gone. Thomas followed suit in a less frivolous and fancy way.

Seamus looked irritably at the powder before taking some and following them. Tonks sighed and Charlie gave her a hug after putting down the mug of powder. "He'll be alright." He murmured.

"No he won't." She said fiercely, looking up at him. "We've been saying so for years and he hasn't recovered. He can't Apparate anymore, Charlie; he can barely do the most rudimentary spells. He was second only to the Head Boy and he can barely use a summoning charm now!"

"Nymph..." He said helplessly, "I know it's hard, but there's nothing we can do. He has a job here, but since he can't stun anything..."

An uncomfortable silence fell. The Weasley family was notorious for its bad luck. It had gotten better lately and the Ministry had given them all a rather large amount of money to help them raise all their orphaned or now single-mothered or single-fathered relatives. The silence was suddenly broken by Tonks crying and Charlie held her close, making soothing noises.

"Fred." She said suddenly, wiping her tears.

"Eh?" Charlie asked, wondering if she had lost all common sense in a second.

"George." She added, now sounding excited.

"Charlie." He said slowly, pointing at himself.

"I know that." She said, blowing her nose. "But Fred and George, they can help! They could maybe hire Seamus to work for their joke shop! A mediocre job, but it would be better than having him mope around the house."

"He doesn't mope." Charlie pointed out, smiling slightly. "He's too strong for that. A genius plan, my dear, I'll ask them about it tonight."

She smiled and pulled on a midnight black wizard's hat. "Good." She said then Disapparated.

Charlie chuckled and checked the locks and wards around his home. He then pulled on his cloak and Disapparated with a quiet pop. The Weasleys were gathering in England, after all, and it would be no good if one stayed behind in Romania.


	3. Gathering at the Burrow

"Zephari, Dante!" A girl their age squealed, running forward and hugging them excitedly, her vibrant pink and magenta robes making her stand out amongst the crowd of more subtly clad Weasley relatives and friends.

With the ease of one long use to doing so, Zephari stepped aside and dodged her cousin, whom she called such though she had no relation to her whatsoever. It was normal for the entire 'Weasley extended family' to call each other cousin, as they were closer than most blood relations. The black-haired girl smirked deviously and went up to the only two clad in black.

"Happy end of summer, Uncle Snape, Uncle Draco!" She said brightly, holding out a gift.

"I loathe summer." 'Uncle Snape' muttered.

"Cheer up, Severus; we get to go back to terrorizing Hogwarts students soon." 'Uncle Draco' responded, chuckling slightly and taking the package.

"Open it!" The girl told them, bouncing in her dark green robes.

They opened the parcel and revealed it to be... a giant rubber bat. Snape stared at it, as did Draco. Those around them, however, were laughing merrily. Snape lifted up the bat; as if afraid it would do something cute like squeak, to reveal a furry thing that was no doubt supposed to be a ferret. They turned identical glares on the eleven year old before them.

"That's 'cause Aunt Ginny always calls you an overgrown bat and a twitchy ferret." She said innocently, oblivious to her aunt's furious motions to shut up.

"I believe that was a rather popular term back when she was in school." Snape drawled turning slowly to look at Ginny, the bat hanging from the tips of his fingers.

"It still is!" Dante piped up. "Carly and Thomas call you two that all the time."

Draco looked evenly at the twins, the beginnings of his infamous sneer on his lips. However, Zephari came to the rescue. "Do you like them?" She asked angelically.

The two looked as if they had been forced to eat something rather vile and disgusting; or, maybe, in their cases, something wonderful and sweet. However, Zephari knew that Draco really like chocolate. That was what she gave him for Christmas every year and he was genuinely happy about that. She, Dante and Zoë usually gave Snape a new set of voluminous black robes.

"Of course we do." Snape said as if he was being tortured through every word.

Zephari beamed at them and hugged first Draco, then Snape. She completely missed Snape glaring at Draco as she hugged him, mouthing 'Why do I have to be nice to her anyways?' and receiving a firm glare and 'You owe her courtesy, at the very least.' He scowled at that, but Zephari did not notice the difference. He was always scowling, after all.

"How come I didn't get a present?" A quiet, joking voice asked behind her.

"Dethol!" She squealed, leaping into his arms.

He picked her up and held her by his hip. "How's the little Welsh doing?" He asked.

"She's absolutely spiffing." The girl answered, giggling at the use of her Uncles Fred and George's phrase. "Grown really big now, you should come see her!"

Snape crossed his arms, glaring at the younger man. Draco simply looked amused. "How come he didn't get a rubber rat?" He muttered.

Draco grinned at his teacher and co-worker. "Probably because she got him something else."

Zephari turned and glared at them before pulling another parcel from her deep pockets. "Happy end of summer." She said brightly.

Dethol opened it to find a pale pink shirt with a green dragon painted on it. It was a rather bad painting, but got the point that it was a dragon across fairly well. The fact that the shirt was pink was the reason Draco and Snape burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Dethol, however, looked very proud of his gift and gave her a hug before putting her down and pulling the oversized garment over his current set of black robes – he always wore black, as it was one of the only colours he could pull of nicely.

"Why, Dethol, pink is definitely your color." Fred Weasley announced, walking up to admire the shirt.

"Absolutely wonderful on you, I must agree." George Weasley added.

All the Weasleys adored Dethol na N'ataya, who had been dragged into the family when Zephari's mother met him in her seventh – his third – year at Hogwarts. Even the elder generation treated him like a long lost brother, while the younger ones treated him like an older brother or loving uncle. Zephari considered him an older brother and she adored him even more than the rest of her family.

"Brings out your eyes." Fred added, though this was complete nonsense as Dethol's eyes were a brilliant, deep blue.

"And your complexion." George continued, making it obvious that they were simply imitating their wives.

"The way it bunches up over your robes..." Fred said with a dreamy sigh.

"Makes you appear undoubtedly sexy..." George finished.

Zephari giggled, as did Dante and Zoë who had just come up behind her at that moment. Zoë grinned at her cousin. "So you gave him the shirt after all?" She asked.

"He likes it." Zephari said, blushing brightly.

"I can see why, it has a dragon on it." Dante added, grinning.

It was for no uncertain reason that Dethol was Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts. On his first day on the job – the year before – he had tried to take a Grindylow on the school train. The funniest thing was he had succeeded. The conductor had tried to keep him from doing so, but crafty Dethol won out in the end. It was obvious why the smart animal-lover had been in Ravenclaw, as he definitely had the smarts for that house and he would not have fit in anywhere else. He still had not, but his smarts made him have that one thing in common with a group of people in the school.

"Alright, everyone out!" Molly Weasley announced, waving her wand above the noisy congregation, "I'm starting supper now and if you all don't get a move on, I'm going to start recruiting you to help!"

That made the crowd move in a bustle outside. Even the adults knew better than to risk Molly's infamous temper. As it was, they all made it out before she resorted to recruiting. Draco and Snape, still snickering about Dethol's shirt, kidnapped said other professor and dragged him up the hill to 'talk about proper professorly conduct'. Dante and Zoë grabbed Zephari by the back of her dark robes and carried her over to the other cousins their age.

They were one of the larger age groups, having at least one representative from each Weasley child. Dante was of Charlie's brood, Alexandre was of Bill's, Leif was of George's while Felix was of Fred's and Amanda, Alexis and Aleanor were from Ginny's. All were eleven, twelve or thirteen except Amanda, who was nine.

The fifteen year olds had made it clear that they did not want their younger cousins following them to their mini-Quidditch pitch so they stayed in the main yard. The elders were excited to have the three youngest – except Amanda – finally join them at Hogwarts.

"I hope you three are in Gryffindor with us." Aleanor informed them purposefully, "That way we might be able to secure the House Cup once we get rid of the elder idiots."

"You're being cruel, Ally." Leif informed her, "The older Gryffindors are just not in the mood to work. They remember their parents a lot more, so they're more in mourning than us."

"Either way, they'll be gone next year." Alexis said proudly, "And us younger Gryffs can finally make ourselves known. They'll basically need to fill up the Quidditch team from scratch in two years, as well."

"So only one more year to wait!" Felix said excitedly, "Then we'll get our House Cup back from those snakes."

"What happens if we aren't in Gryffindor, though?" Dante asked worriedly.

"Never been a Weasley that hasn't, Dante." Alexandre assured her.

"But there've been a ton of Blacks who haven't." Zephari stated.

"Yeah, but you're raised a Weasley, Zephy." Amanda piped boldly.

"Exactly, raised as Gryffindors." Alexis said as if that settled the matter.

"Who do you guys think'll be Quidditch Captain when Valerie leaves?" Felix asked, changing the subject deftly.

"I hope it's Carly or Tom." Leif said, bouncing.

"Hasn't been a Weasley Captain since... Forever!" Zoë exclaimed. "About time for there to be another."

"That's easy for you to say, what with your dad having been Captain in his time." Aleanor said sharply.

"Ally, don't be mean." Felix whined.

"Well, I think that Carly and Tom would be great captains!" Alexandre said proudly, Alexis nodding in agreement.

Despite Aleanor and Alexis being the only set of twins in the group, there were many who acted like twins. Alexis and Alexandre were inseparable at these gatherings, always backing the other up. Felix and Leif were identical down to the last freckle, so their mothers had given them distinctly different haircuts to tell them apart. Zoë, Zephari and Dante might as well have been fraternal triplets, but they stuck to each other like glue. It was obvious that they would be crushed if they were separated in the sorting. Amanda simply backed everyone up, being a good adorable little sister. She was the youngest of the Weasley offspring, after all.

"What about the Slytherin team, how are they doing?" Zephari asked interestedly.

"Hideously. They lost what good members they had this summer." Alexandre said honestly.

"Huffle's doing pretty badly too, they can't seem to find a decent Keeper." Alexis added.

"Ravenclaw, however, is doing pretty well." Felix muttered.

"That's only because they finally completely reassigned their positions. Most of which went to fifth and sixth years, sixth and seventh this year. So they'll be gone soon." Leif said brightly.

"We could really use good fliers like you three, though. I'm going to try out this year." Chiharu said suddenly, having stayed quiet throughout the entire conversation.

"Ooh! What position?" Alexis asked eagerly.

Despite the fact that the others adored Quidditch, they were all hopelessly useless at it. Alexis and Alexandre were much better at being pranksters, while Aleanor was better at fussing and Felix and Leif were the best at confusing people with the fact that they were not twins. Zoë, Dante and Zephari were the only ones with any smidgeon of talent and they had loads of it.

Zephari, however, had gotten bored with the conversation. This happened every year when the conversation turned to Quidditch and Hogwarts. So what if she was going to attend this year? She still found it insufferably _boring_ to listen to them whine about how Gryffindor's current students were not up to par. If they wanted the House Cup so bad, all they had to do was motivate their house-mates to stop being idiots.

Grumbling, she crept away from the group. She walked around a group of adults, all the original Weasley men and Ginny's husband, only to hear her name uttered. She stopped and turned to stare at them, though none of them noticed. They were whispering excitedly.

"...with Zephari, I'm sure she'll be fine." Charlie was telling his brother Bill.

"I don't know... I don't like the idea of Dante being in school at the same time as Malfoy's brat." Bill muttered.

"You'll be at the school to keep an eye on her, though, Bill." Michael, Ginny's husband, pointed out. "I'm sure that you and Ginny will keep her, Zephari and Zoë out of that boy's clutches."

"We're only allowed to interfere to a certain degree." Bill said carefully, "But Snape has promised to keep an eye on him."

"Say, who's Head of which house nowadays?" Fred asked, serious for once.

"Snape is still Head of Slytherin, Ginny's Head of Gryffindor, Dethol – Merlin help us – is Head of Ravenclaw and Hannah's Head of Hufflepuff." Bill told them.

"Dethol? Head of House?" George repeated, his expression making Zephari giggle.

"How in Godric's name did that happen?" Fred demanded.

"He's the only ex-Ravenclaw teacher." Michael observed. "The rest of those from Ravenclaw go on to be authors or scientists."

Charlie suddenly chuckled, "I wouldn't put it past Zephari, Zoë and Dante to make him wear that pink shirt to one of the main feasts."

Bill shook his head, "Dethol's not as irresponsible as he seems. He has a good – if somewhat eccentric – head on his shoulders and he knows his magical creatures."

"Whatever you say, Headmaster." Fred and George said in unison.

"Am I the only one who finds it rather funny that Bill's more worried about Dante than Charlie is?" Michael asked, looking between the two Weasley brothers.

"Bill's always been the more protective of the two." Fred informed him, "He was Head Boy, after all."

"Even when it came to our kids." George added.

"He was worse with Ron's kids, though." Charlie said before he could stop himself, a silence falling uncomfortably on the group.

Zephari decided she had better leave before one of her uncles noticed her eavesdropping. As she prepared to scoot away, she found herself compelled to stay as Bill spoke up again.

"How's Harry doing?" He asked quietly.

Michael sighed slightly, "He's gone and become like Mad-Eye, obsessed with catching Death Eaters." He said softly.

Zephari rarely heard anyone talk about her rightful uncle, Harry Sirius Weasley. They usually thought that she would be insulted by it, but she wanted to learn about her family. She remembered her father telling her that her uncle Harry adored her mother as much as his famous namesake had. That was the only recollection she had of someone mentioning her mother's brothers in front of her. She had never met any of Lily's siblings, except for her fifteen year old fraternal twin siblings.

"And Albus?" Charlie asked in the same tone.

"The same thing." Michael answered likewise.

"Neither of them could stand losing Lily." Fred murmured softly.

"Made them both turn into Aurors." George continued in the same way.

"Lily wouldn't have wanted them to turn out like this." Charlie muttered.

"She didn't want Athen to turn out like he did, but he did." Bill said sharply.

"Poor Zephari." Michael said softly. "It's bad enough she never knew her Mum, but her Dad being gone as well..."

"Lots of children have lost their parents." Bill reminded him. "Elida and Ryan, for example, knew their parents for less time than Zephari knew her father. And what about Zoë and Chiharu?"

"Yes, but they still have their grandparents." Fred interrupted.

"She never got to meet Hermione and Ron and her Dad's Mum died when they did." George added.

"No one knows who her Dad's Dad is." Fred finished.

"Or was." George growled.

Zephari froze. She had never known who her paternal grandparents were. Whenever she asked, Charlie simply gave her a hug and Tonks told her to shush. So her grandmother had eloped with a random wizard and had her father? Obviously her grandfather was a wizard, as her father had told her all about the Black family's infamous pureblood pride.

"Poor thing." Michael murmured sympathetically.

Zephari was surprised at this. Her Uncle Michael had not always been the supportive type. In fact, he had never ever been of the kind to act as he was now. He was the one that yelled at the children when they so much as put a toe out of line. He was a severe stickler for reading daily, as well. Most of the cousins called him Uncle Tyrant when he was not listening. Even his children did. Affectionately, of course, but he had never been one to show pity.

"I just wish that Albus and Harry would come and see her. They are, after all, her uncles." Charlie said.

Zephari had had enough; she turned around to flee and bumped into something – some_one_ – much bigger than her. She bounced back with an 'oof' and stared up into the face of Dethol. She cringed. She did not want her parents' close friend knowing she had been eavesdropping on her uncles. She tried to run past him.

"Zeph, what's the matter?" Dethol asked her, grabbing hold of her shoulders.

Zephari looked away and realized she was crying. She wiped the back of her hand across her cheeks furiously. "Nothing." She said stiffly.

"Obviously _something_ is wrong. You never turn away from me like this." He pointed out, his logic flawless.

She turned back towards him, tears streaming anew down her face, "Why won't Uncle Albus and Uncle Harry come see me?" She demanded, "Everyone else talks to me, but I've never even met them and they're Mum's brothers!"

Her raised and anguished voice obviously attracted her uncles' attention. They all looked at her, surprise on every inch of their faces. They had not noticed she was there. She did not care by then. All the questions she had suddenly burst out.

"Why won't anyone talk to me about Mum or Dad?" She asked, unable to see through her tears, "Why won't anyone talk about my grandparents? Why-" She choked and clutched at Dethol's robes for comfort. "Why?" She finished lamely.

* * *

Dethol was alarmed. Quiet little Zephari had always seemed content with the knowledge she had of her family. She had her entire extended family to comfort her, after all. He had thought that Charlie – at least – had told her stories about her mother and father in their youth. He had thought that the Weasleys would have told her about Ron and Hermione, at the very least.

Now she was clutching his leg, crying her eyes out, and he had no idea how to stop her. This was why he did not have any children: he did not know how to deal with them. Or women, for that matter; but that was not the subject at hand. He did what instinct told him to do, crouching and giving the little girl a hug.

After a few minutes, during which he was very aware of Michael's glaring and the Weasleys' stupefied glances, her sobs became mere hiccups and subsided. She was still firmly attached to his robes, however, which was a difficult situation. He picked her up, gently taking his robes from her grip and mouthed 'I'll put her to bed' over her head at the others.


	4. Living With Icebergs

"How could you not tell her _anything_?" Draco Malfoy demanded, pacing back and forth in front of the other adults and older children.

After Zephari's little incident, the other children still in school had been bustled off to bed with the excuse that it was getting late and they would be heading to Diagon Alley early in the morning. It was a good enough excuse for the younger children, but the older ones – particularly those older than fifteen – were not fooled. Draco suspected they were listening by all means possible at the moment.

"We thought it was best for her..." Molly murmured, looking at her hands which were in her lap, "We were planning to tell her the truth when she left school."

"Obviously, you were wrong." He snarled, making no small number of the Weasleys stare at him.

"What did you expect us to do, Malfoy?" Cho Chang demanded. "How do you think they would have reacted had we told them everything when they were younger?"

"No better than Zephari did today, overhearing us talking." Charlie muttered miserably, "But at least they would know."

"The elder children have found out," Severus drawled from the edge of the group, their collective gaze suddenly falling on him in a mix of surprise and horror.

"Honestly, you didn't expect them to remain oblivious forever, did you?" Dethol demanded, his arms crossed over the shirt Zephari had given him, as he had not yet removed it.

"I suspected they would." Bill sighed, "I just wish they could have heard it from us."

"Oh? And what would you have said?" Malfoy demanded scornfully, "'Children, your – insert relative here – was killed by Voldemort in the war, but we decided to let you remain painfully clueless for the past eleven years. Terribly sorry about that, hope you'll forgive us.'? Do you honestly think some kind of bullshit story would have worked on them?"

"The Weasleys – and our two Potters – are a smart bunch, most knew by third year. Elder siblings tell their younger siblings as soon as they find out. Chiharu and Zoë already know, Cho, so stop looking at me like I've suddenly turned into a Hinkypunk." Dethol paused to meet her glare until she looked away, "The rest all know as well." He added thoughtfully, "But Zephari has no older sibling to tell her how her parents died, let alone how they lived. You owe them all that much, to tell them how they _lived_."

Draco could not help but nod contently, noticing that the other two professors did so as well. It appeared that the Weasleys needed the advice of a complete outsider on their familial matters. Just as Draco knew he sometimes did. Raising two boys without a maternal presence was downright near impossible, so he spent a large amount of time with the extended family that had taken him in after he showed his true colors.

An uncomfortable silence fell and, finally, Arthur Weasley stood up. "I think that settles the matter for tonight. We should all head to bed now; tomorrow's going to be a long day."

The others murmured in agreement and headed up the stairs of The Burrow or outside to their tents. Draco followed Severus out into the front yard, where they had pitched their tent. He lived in the Snape mansion during the summer, along with his two sons – who also shared the tent with them. However, he was in no mood to sleep. Neither was Severus, apparently.

Draco pushed open the flap and set a silencing spell on the main room of the tent. Snape followed, his features tense as he, too, contained his frustration. They checked on the boys and returned to the main room before Draco rounded on his mentor, "How could they?" He demanded.

"They should have told the children how their parents died, at the very least." Snape agreed.

"But to not talk about them at all?" Draco fumed, "Zephari did not even know that her two real uncles are Aurors, out hunting down the last of the Death Eaters that killed her mother."

Both were plainly disgusted. Snape had his arms crossed and his face was disapproving, the sides of his mouth drawn into the smallest of frowns while the rest of his face was tense. Draco supposed that his features were in something of the same expression as he paced back and forth, his robes billowing out behind him.

"It's completely dishonouring to their memories." Snape growled after a lengthy silence.

"And to the kids themselves!" Draco snapped, "Imagine what it must be like, to only be hugged and coddled when asked what happened to your parents! Imagine what it must be like to never know your family because they're too busy trying to find the bastards who killed your parents!"

Someone else stepped into the tent, dressed in black like them and his face just as livid. Draco whirled on the intruder, only to resume pacing irritably. Dethol na N'ataya was just as irritated as they, but he would simply pace a little and listen, allowing them to soothe their nerves. Draco found it was easier to get rid of his anger when someone just as angry simply listened.

Indeed, about three hours later, he found himself feeling less angry. He slowly stopped pacing and snapping, eventually sliding into a chair at the table. Severus had long ago placed himself in another of the four. Dethol sighed, running a hand over his creased and tired features. "I think we've run out of fuel for our anger at the moment." He murmured, "We had best turn in now if we expect to go to Diagon Alley with the others tomorrow."

Draco nodded, muttering the counter-spell so that they could be heard outside again. He and Severus bid good night to Dethol before heading to their rooms. As Draco changed for bed, he could not help but feel that they had gotten more than they had bargained for when Athen Black decided to chase after his wife's murderer.

* * *

"Wake up, dears, it's time to go."

Dante opened her eyes with a tremendous yawn. Her vision was blurred for a moment before she saw her grandmother's face in the doorway. She grinned impishly. "Wotcher, Grandmum." She said innocently.

Molly rolled her eyes, "You definitely are Tonks's daughter." She said with a laugh as Zephari, Zoë and Amanda stirred. "Breakfast is ready, shopping after we eat."

Zoë's face lit up instantly and Dante could not help but giggle. Her cousin adored shopping and everything girly. She was often considered a traitor in Dante's sister's eyes because of it. Most of the Weasley girls were tomboys, after all, and Zoë just was not; which was silly, Dante found, because Zoë was a Potter, not a Weasley.

Zephari, as well, looked excited, but in a more reserved way. In fact, if one did not know Zephari extremely well, as she did, than one would think that the girl was rather reluctant to go shopping. That was just how Zephari was, hiding her emotions constantly. But after six years of sharing the same household, Dante knew her well enough to guess her mood accurately.

Dante knew her eyes were sparkling with joy. She got out of bed and quickly changed in front of the others, as they always did. Only Zephari was the least bit uncomfortable with such actions but even she changed in front of the other three which proved that she was just as excited as Zoë and Dante.

"Hurry up, Amanda." Zoë urged as the youngest girl got tangled up in her robes.

"Here," Zephari said sharply, striding over and helping the youngest girl get her arm out of the neck and her head from the sleeve with gentle tugs instead of sharp pulls that her tone indicated she might have used.

The little straight-haired brunette appeared from the dark green folds, "Thanks." She squeaked gratefully.

"Come on!" Zoë cried and, grabbing one of each Dante and Zephari's sleeves, dragged them out of the room.

"Let me go, Zoë!" Zephari snapped, wrestling her black sleeve free.

"What? Are you afraid I'll make your robes dirty?" Zoë teased.

"Yes, you and your grubby Gryffindor and Ravenclaw hands." The darker girl teased, smirking superiorly.

Dante rolled her eyes and wrenched Zoë's hand from her own sleeve. "We had better hurry." She reminded the other two.

As she continued down the stairs, Amanda appeared at her sleeve. "How come they always fight like that?" The eight year old asked.

Dante giggled slightly, "They don't mean any of what they say, it's just teasing." She assured her cousin.

"Oh." Amanda said quietly, not at all convinced.

As they arrived in the kitchen a chorus of happy voices greeted them. Dante sat down beside her cousin Alexis, while Amanda sat down beside Alexandre. Both of them grinned at her and Amanda, who was across from Dante. Their grins were identical and they nodded in unison at Zephari and Zoë as the other two sat down beside Dante and Amanda, respectively.

"Nervous?" Alexis whispered, still grinning.

Dante shook her head, "We're just shopping today." She reminded her cousin.

Alexandre served Amanda some eggs and bacon, which she stared at dully. "What's up?" Alexandre asked her, concern replacing his grin.

"I'm the last one." Amanda explained mournfully, "Mum teaches, so she's gone during school too. It'll be just me and Dad this year."

"Same as last year." Alexis pointed out unhelpfully, which was typical sibling behaviour between the two.

"Yeah, but this year we won't be able to visit Dante or Zoë or Zephari." The little girl sighed.

"We'll come back for Christmas, Mandy." Dante assured her cousin.

That made the little girl light up happily and delve into her breakfast. Zephari, however, looked doubtful. Dante gave her foster-sister a cautious glance and got a glare in return. The rest were oblivious to the exchange and soon the Weasleys, the Potters, the Malfoys, the Snape and the Black were ready to go. The adults hurried the children through the Floo network to Diagon Alley one by one.

"See you on the other side." Zephari said before saying, "Diagon Alley!" and vanishing.

Then went Zoë, who simply gave Dante two thumbs up before vanishing. Dante was the last child to go before Amanda, as she was the youngest. She grabbed the Floo powder with the ease of long practice. She climbed into the fireplace after throwing the powder down, whispered "Diagon Alley" and the fireplace began spinning around her. She tucked her elbows in and squinted for the right grate. She climbed easily out at the right grate and was brushed off by two sets of hands while another two sets held her up until she regained her balance.

"Thanks." She said brightly and moved out of the way in time to catch Amanda stumbling out.

"Mum and Dad are meeting us at Gringotts." Alexis said, holding her sister up with a kind hand. "That's the official meeting place. Uncle Charlie has your key, Zeph, don't worry."

Zephari smiled in relief as she had been searching through her pockets for her Gringotts key. Dante was suddenly dragged off by an excited Zoë. "C'mon! The faster we get the Gringotts, the faster we can go shopping!"

"Who's going to supervise us, anyways?" Zephari asked, curious.

"A different parent has been assigned to every few kids. Us six have Uncle Charlie and Uncle Bill." Alexis said, as Alexandre looked as stumped as the girls.

"Lucky." A rather put-out voice muttered close by. "We've got Dethol."

"But Dethol's fun to go shopping with!" Zephari exclaimed.

"Come with us?" Dante offered, changing her hair's color to a more vibrant purple.

"Oh, fine." Felix agreed at Leif's urging.

The eight of them walked down the street to the white marble building. Zephari was the only one who dared go first through the doors, as the others were all rather intimidated by the goblins. Dante let Amanda hold her hand and they all stuck close together until they spotted the adults.

"Ah, there they are!" Molly cried out in relief, looking at the eight youngest children. "You gave us a scare!"

"Mum, I told you, you worry too much." Charlie walked up behind her, looking relieved to see them safe and sound.

"Alright, everyone with your parents!" Arthur called out.

Dante grabbed Zephari's sleeve and the two girls headed towards Charlie. However, Dethol stepped out and tapped Dante on the shoulder. "Sorry, Dante, but I'm going to have to take Zephari with me. Less stops, you know."

Dante blinked. "Oh..." She said in a discouraged tone.

"Don't worry, Dawn, we'll meet up after and still go shopping together." Zephari said brightly before she walked off with the other black-clad wizard.

* * *

"How come I'm going with you, Dethol?" Zephari asked curiously, craning her head back to look at him.

"Well, all the others have their own kids to look after." He said, sounding slightly disappointed that she was asking, "And Severus is tailing Draco, as those two bats like to stick together. I thought it would be fun to go on the hell-ride with you, too."

Zephari smirked, "So long as you don't throw up." She agreed, bouncing ahead.

He followed and remained true to her declaration. He did not even turn green. This, Zephari thought, was somewhat boring but she should have known better. He had, after all, spent the majority of his childhood traveling around the globe and, as an adult, he had flown on a hippogriff more times than Zephari had used the Floo network. That was saying a lot.

They reached the Black vault without difficulty and Zephari helped herself to hefty amount of galleons, sickles and knuts. Then they rode back up on the insane ride back up to the top and emerged into the daylight outside well ahead of the others. Zephari put the pouch of money in her inside pocket.

"Want an ice cream?" Dethol offered.

Zephari stared at him. "What about the others?"

He grinned, "They'll take a while, trust me."

"Okay." The girl said happily and he bought them both single cones of chocolate ice cream.

"So, you know that Charlie is your assigned guardian for the day, right?" Dethol asked dejectedly.

"Yeah, but you're watching Felix and Leif and they're coming with us." Zephari explained, grinning, "So you're going to get to spend the day with Uncle Bill and Uncle Charlie!"

"Oh, goody." Dethol muttered, but she never found out if he was talking about spending the day with her uncles or because the Malfoys and Snape had just reappeared.

Zephari had never seen Draco Malfoy's two sons before. Usually they were visiting with maternal grandparents when she was at The Burrow, once every few years. This time, however, she got to see both. One, she knew, would attend Durmstrang Institute for his first year of schooling; he was the same age as she was. The other was two years older, now entering his third year at Hogwarts. He had not attended Durmstrang like his younger brother, something Zephari found interesting.

The younger brother looked very smug and amused about something. Severus Snape looked kind of green. Zephari looked curiously at Dethol, who was poorly hiding a grin. Draco Malfoy, as well, looked amused. The elder brother simply looked bored.

"Severus does not have a very good stomach for Gringotts carts." Dethol whispered before the pair strode over to the Slytherin group.

"Father-" The elder began to protest upon noticing Zephari's ice cream.

Draco ignored him, however, and the girl licked her ice cream with a smirk. He stared at her before sneering, earning a better sneer back. She licked the chocolate sweet yet again and he turned to look at his father whiningly.

The younger brother smirked at him and walked up to Zephari, "Can I have some?" He asked innocently.

Zephari grinned and handed over the cone, "Sure, just don't lick it all over." She warned.

He looked rather tempted to do just that, but did not and gave it back to her. He even managed a smile, "Thanks." He said.

Zephari took back her cone, "You're welcome." She said slightly shyly.

Dethol was looking at her with amusement and curiosity. She smirked slightly and went back to his side. She motioned for him to come closer so she could whisper. When he did, she only whispered one word. "Spite."

He laughed and she smirked more before continuing to eat her ice cream. Draco had been telling Dethol about Severus's unfortunate cart incident. Zephari listened in on the last part and gave a low chuckle when he finished. It was then that Severus reminded Draco, sharply, that he had not introduced his sons to Zephari.

"Zephari Black, meet Kai and Sirius Malfoy." He said smoothly, glaring at Severus for the jab in his rib by the potion master's elbow.

Kai, who Draco indicated was the older, glared at her until Draco cleared his throat. He then bowed minutely. "Pleased to meet you."

Sirius, however, did not need to be prompted. He bowed low, took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Pleasure." He said simply.

Zephari raised an eyebrow at this. Their father must be a slave-driver if he made them bow and be all courteous. Pureblood pride, her father used to call it. She did not wish to curtsy, but knew it was required of her, so she did to both boys. "The pleasure's mine." She insisted politely, looking at Sirius as she said so.

"Ah, look! There they are!" Dethol said joyfully.

Zephari turned to see the Weasleys – and the Potters – blinking disoriented-like in the bright daylight outside of Gringotts. Alexis, Alexandre, Zoë, Dante, Felix and Leif all hurried towards Zephari with wide grins. Zoë skid to a halt beside her, grabbing onto her collar to keep from crashing into Sirius, who dropped Zephari's hand with a start.

"Oh." Zoë said sourly, glaring at Kai.

He glared back. "Potter." He said sharply.

"Malfoy." She replied in the same tone.

"Who are they?" Dante whispered.

"Professor Malfoy's sons." Alexis whispered back. "The older one's Kai, the younger's Sirius."

Alexandre growled low in his throat, "Luckily, we only have one at Hogwarts. Sirius is going to Durmstrang for a year."

"Why does he have to go live with ice bergs?" Zephari muttered, but only Dethol heard and he chuckled.

"All set?" Charlie asked, joining them with Bill in tow.

"Actually, Charlie, you don't need to tail this group." Severus said suddenly, "Draco and I will be with them, we can chaperone. Go have some... _fun_... for once."

Zephari – and the rest of the children – stared at him. The word 'fun' just sounded wrong when he said it. However, Zephari was hoping that Charlie and Bill would leave them with the three professors. Dethol, for one, was fun to shop with and she wanted to spend some more time with Sirius, especially if he would help her annoy his father and Snape.

"We're coming with you, Charlie." Leif said suddenly, glancing at Felix who nodded.

"And we're coming with Bill." Alexis said firmly for herself and Alexandre.

Zoë and Dante looked torn and Zephari shrugged. "Go if you want." She said simply, but they did not.

"We can't leave you with just the Malfoys for company." Zoë hissed.

"Okay, suit yourselves." Zephari said, though she smiled happily.


	5. Shopping is Fun

Zephari grinned as she dragged Dethol down the street to Madam Malkin's. "We can start here." She said, grinning.

"Zephari..." He mumbled, resisting.

"You come with me willingly, or I make you try on the fluffiest pair of pink robes in stock." She threatened.

Dante and Zoë giggled slightly, earning a glare from Kai. Sirius, however, had a wide grin on his face. Draco looked amused and Severus did as well, though only those who knew both well could tell. Dethol mumbled something and followed her without another word against it.

"Hogwarts, dears?" A kindly witch asked them, looking at the five children.

"Durmstrang for him." Draco said with authority, putting a hand on Sirius's shoulder.

Sirius did not look pleased about this. "Why do I have to go to the land of ice and snow?" He muttered.

Draco glared at him, "Durmstrang builds character." He said firmly, though Zephari got the feeling he was not telling the whole truth.

The witch led the youngest four into the back of shop. She positioned Dante and Zoë on stools, leaving Zephari to talk with Sirius. Draco, Severus and Dethol had been left in the front because Dethol had his ice cream, Severus had received her cone and Draco needed to go through the arrangements for Kai to get his robes altered to fit.

"So, you don't want to go to Durmstrang?" Zephari asked him as another witch joined the first in pinning a pair of robes to fit the other girls.

"Who _would_ want to go there?" He demanded, "I may be pureblood, but I don't want to-"

"Hey! I'm pureblood too!" She snapped, "It was just a question; don't get your knickers in a bunch."

He took a deep breath and looked away, "Sorry, just touchy. I've often been judged as a typical pureblood and it annoys me."

She shrugged, "I can understand." She said simply, "Most people think I'm like all Blacks, and they don't have a very good reputation."

"One a murderer, numerous Death Eaters and the good majority of them dead." He murmured, "My grandmother was one."

Zephari nodded, "My great-grandfather's cousin."

"_Great_-grandfather?" He repeated.

"Oh, right, you don't know. I'm a generation ahead of most of my cousins and the kids of people my uncles' age." She informed him.

"Ah, right..." Sirius said suddenly, "Father mentioned that both your parents were born not too long after he graduated from Hogwarts."

Zephari nodded, "My dad was friends with him. I vaguely remember visiting the Snape Manor when I was younger."

Sirius grinned, "You must've had fun there."

"Oh, I did." She said truthfully, "I was raised by an overgrown bat just like them, after all."

"Okay, you two now!" The first witch said briskly, returning from the front of the shop where Dante and Zoë had gone.

"So, is Dethol as weird as he seems?" Sirius asked her.

Zephari grinned, "He's the best, even though he's a little strange." She said loyally.

"And does all your family have red hair?" He asked curiously.

She laughed. "Most of 'em. I've got my dad's hair, though. So, how do the old bats act at home?"

"As surly as ever." He said wryly.

Zephari grinned, "Y'know, you're not as bad as my cousins make Malfoys sound."

He grinned back, "Well, you're pureblood too. We're all so inbred, you're part Malfoy."

She laughed slightly. "Too true."

"Alright, dears, you're done." The second witch said kindly, taking the robes from Zephari and leading the two children back to the front.

There they waited a bit for her to get robes of the right size and alter them as well. Then they handed over their money to buy them and wandered out into the brightness outside. Zephari blinked when she did not see either Dante or Zoë anywhere. However, the three professors were still there.

"Dante and Zoë left us to go with Charlie and Bill." Dethol told her, looking evenly at her, "Do you mind spending the rest of the day with us boys?"

"Sure." She said brightly. "I can teach you all that shopping is _fun_."

They all looked doubtful at that. However, they now had three different sets of books and supplies to get so they got a move on. Zephari bought her books easily enough, but got bored when it took Kai a while to get his texts and even longer for Sirius. She started looking over the other books and found a few that interested her.

"Dethol, is this book accurate?" She asked curiously, holding up _Hogwarts: A History_.

He took the book out of her light grasp and checked the production date. He grinned. "Yes, it is. Updated last year, in fact."

"And this one?" She asked, holding up a handsome leather-bound book called _Aurors and Other People of Note of the 21st Century_.

He nodded, somewhat sadly, "Yes, it's accurate. Are you sure you want to buy that one?"

Zephari nodded firmly, "It'll have everyone in it." She said, clutching it tightly.

Then they went to the apothecary, where Zephari was intrigued by all the strange substances, especially the vibrantly poisonous ones which none of the adults would let her buy. They bought quills, parchment, ink and other necessities at a rather boring shop. They got standard size pewter cauldrons for herself and Sirius at the cauldron store and then went to one of the stores she had been looking forward to the most: Olivander's.

They entered the dusty shop and the three professors looked around rather fondly. Even Kai looked a little less irritated than he had all day. There was a knock on the window and they all turned with a start. There was a black-haired, dark-eyed boy of Kai's age standing outside. He motioned to Kai to come and the Malfoy looked imploringly up at his father.

"Ah, I see Kim is with his grandparents." Draco observed, "Alright, go on. If I find out you snuck off into Knockturn Alley, though..."

Kai gulped and nodded before running out.

"_His_ grandparents?" Zephari repeated, sneering.

"I would pity the bloke if he wasn't such a pain." Sirius muttered to her.

The girl grinned and turned around to find a creepy old wizard staring at them unblinkingly. She jumped with a small squeak, turning the attentions of the boys to the man as well. Dethol bent over to whisper in both the first years' ears. "Olivander himself. Severus and Draco assure me he's the same man that sold them their wands way back when, he sold me mine and he will sell you yours. My theory is that they all look so similar that they come and go without us noticing."

"Ah... Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Snape and Mr. N'ataya." The man whispered, smiling, "It's as if it were yesterday, indeed."

Draco and Severus looked at Dethol, who nodded. "If you'll excuse us, Mr. Olivander, we have other business to attend to." Severus said smoothly before the two glided out of the store.

Olivander turned his creepy gaze on Dethol then. "How is it faring, Mr. N'ataya?" He asked, "I hope none of your insane adventures have gotten it snapped."

Dethol turned a little red at the cheeks, making Zephari smirk. "My wand's fine, Mr. Olivander. Made to last, as you said, and thank Godric for that."

"Durable, yes. Eight and a quarter inches, rigid, maple with a core of dragon heartstring; I have yet to make another wand as fiery as that one, indeed." He smiled. "I heard you nearly lit the school on fire in your first Charms class?"

"You keep up with the times." Dethol said with a laugh, "Nearly, yes, but Professor Flitwick – May he rest in peace – managed to stop it in time."

"Hopefully these two won't follow in your footsteps." The curious man said, turning to the two children, who shrunk back. "Not yours, I say."

"No, no." Dethol said brightly, "Zephari Black and Sirius Malfoy."

Mr. Olivander fixed them each in turn with his creepy gaze. "You're Lily Weasley and Athen Black's daughter?" He asked Zephari finally, who nodded nervously, "We'll start with you, then."

He went to the back of the shop and picked up a wand. "Yew, thirteen inches, springy with a core of unicorn hair; near identical to that of your mother's, except her hair was from a fiery stallion and this placid mare barely batted an eyelash at me."

Zephari stared at the wand and lifted it up; she gave it a little wave and shook her head. "Too calm." She muttered.

The odd little man raised an eyebrow at that and handed her another wand, "Try this one, then, ash, ten inches, rigid with a core of a phoenix feather, a nice wand if I do say so myself." She took it and instantly shook her head. "Maple, seven and a quarter inches, rigid with a core of dragon heartstring, this should suit you." She managed to wave this one, but felt no spark.

"Hmm... A difficult customer... You remind me of another customer I had long ago." He sounded pleased to have a challenge, "Let's try an odd combination now; yew, fifteen inches, springy with a core of dragon heartstring." Another failure, "Even odder now; pine, ten inches, stable with a core of a unicorn hair, no, no." He snatched it back before she could even try to wave it.

"Yew, nine and a half inches, rigid with a core of a dragon heartstring," He said, forcing the wand into her hand.

She grinned suddenly, this was it. She waved the short wand and a large amount of fire spouted from the end. She smirked proudly.

Olivander nodded, "Yes that is the wand for you. The wand chooses the wizard – or witch, as I always say."

Then it was Sirius's turn. Olivander seemed to favour phoenix feathers for him, but he was just as difficult to place as she had been. Eventually, he took out another very odd wand for the young Malfoy. "Holly, twelve inches, springy with a core of a dragon heartstring," He said curtly, thrusting it at the boy.

Sirius took it and a shower of green and silver sparks came from the end. He smirked and Olivander took back his wand, placing it in the box it had come with and Sirius paid him for it. The strange little man was muttering something to himself and Zephari managed to catch a few words.

"What about Harry Potter?" She asked acidly, ready to stand up for one of her grandparents' best friends.

He looked surprised, yet smiled slightly. "Yes, you would know of him, wouldn't you, Mrs. Black?" He murmured, "Interesting, as the Hungarian Horntail he faced in the Triwizard Tournament is the donor of the heartstrings in _both_ your wands."

Zephari turned to stare at Sirius, who stared right back. Dethol grinned slightly. "You know what that means, you two? You won't be able to duel properly, brother wands don't allow it."

"Ah, to the contrary, Mr. N'ataya." Olivander said quietly, "Dragon wands... they are peculiar cases. Nobody knows if they can fight their brothers, as there are no precedents of those with brother-wands duelling."

Zephari, however, did not care about brother-wands at the moment. "Thank you, Mr. Olivander." She said politely before dragging the other two out after her.

"What is it?" Dethol asked, worried by her eagerness to leave.

"Well, I think we spent enough time in that musty room. That and we still have one stop left." She replied, her tone patronizing.

"Oh?" Sirius asked, looking over their shopping bags.

"Eyelops, silly. To get our pets!" Her face broke into a bright grin.

"I don't think you two need to go there." Draco's voice said from behind them.

Zephari turned around to see both of them holding handsome owls in their cages. Both eagle owls, actually. Her eyes widened in surprise. She reached a hand out to stroke the one that Severus was holding. He rubbed his feathered cheek against her hand and made a soft noise, like a croon.

"Think of it as a lot of overdue birthday presents." Severus told her, placing the large cage in front of her, "It's a male, call him whatever you want."

"This one is yours, Sirius." Draco told his son, "I got Kai a cat, as he hates owls, so you get one just like my Diablo. A female, though, as the little witch insisted you would need a female influence at Durmstrang." He sounded slightly irritated.

"I'll call mine Athen." Zephari murmured, crouching and admiring her feathered companion.

"Mine will be Alba." Sirius said at the same time as her.

The adults looked at each other; Zephari saw them as she scratched Athen's ear tufts. She suddenly found that she did not want Sirius to go to Durmstrang. She stood up, putting a hand on her owl's cage. "You're only going to Durmstrang for one year, right, Sirius?" She asked, slowly and carefully.

"Yeah." He replied. "Then I'm transferring to Hogwarts. No matter what Father says."

* * *

"Well, I think that sums up our shopping for today." Dethol said brightly.

Sirius could not help but wish that he had somehow slowed their shopping experience. Zephari had arrived late the day before, so he had not had a chance to meet her. Now that he had, he felt like she was a good friend. She understood him, even when his own brother did not. It made him even more reluctant to go to Durmstrang.

They headed to the Leaky Cauldron with their parcels only to find it full of people with red hair. "We finished last?" He asked nobody in particular.

"It took a while to get you your books." Zephari told him, carrying her owl's cage behind her.

"Oh." He said, his tone sheepish though he had not meant it to be.

"Don't worry about it." She told him, "How about we sit over here? I know Dante and Zoë are feeling very anti-Malfoy at the moment."

He felt kind of guilty. He had stolen her from her friends, after all. "You don't mind?" He asked.

"You're more fun to talk to than them; all they talk about is girly stuff." She sounded put-out by that.

He laughed, "Right, and no Black girl is girly." He said sarcastically.

"I have the right to be different." She replied with a grin and a shrug.

They did not have a very long time to sit and talk, however, as Molly and Arthur Weasley began Flooing back packages and children as soon as they had walked in. Before long, the room was empty of red-heads. Molly beckoned him forward and his father took his owl. He threw the odd powder in the fireplace and shouted 'The Burrow!' before vanishing.

On the other side, he gave Zephari a steadying hand when she appeared and earned a small smile. They ate a subdued supper, as they would all be leaving the day after, and a definite air of summer ending blues permeated the house. The children were sent to bed earlier than the day before and Sirius promised to write her, while she did the same.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kai hissed acidly as Sirius entered their room of the tent.

"Entering the room we share?" Sirius replied evasively, feeding Alba an owl treat.

"With that girl." Kai clarified, "She's a _Weasley_, Sirius. You're a Malfoy!"

"She's a _Black_, Kai." Sirius corrected, "And if you had spoken more than a word to her, you'd know she's more Slytherin than many Slytherins are!"

"What makes you qualified to say that?" Kai snapped.

"I've met your friends and Zephari's more Slytherin than a good lot of them!" Sirius growled.

"You shut up about my friends." The older boy snarled.

"Same to you." Sirius replied in the same tone.

They glared at each other for a good few minutes before Kai turned and got into bed. "Bloody Gryffindor." He muttered.

"Weakling Hufflepuff." Sirius replied, rolling over.

Kai did not dare retaliate, as Draco had come into their room to watch them. He glared at the two of them; Sirius could feel his eyes on his back. "Don't you _dare_ insult Zephari, or the Weasleys, Potters and any other Gryffindor families in such a way ever again, Kai." He breathed, which was – in Sirius's opinion – worse than when he yelled.

Kai grunted and Draco whirled and left. Sirius smirked into his pillow. That would show that pompous brat. He secretly hoped that Zephari would be sorted into Slytherin, but knew that she would not. She was too brave to be in cowardly Slytherin. But Sirius would show Kai that she – and the other Gryffindors – was better than some Slytherins. He would, if it was the last thing he did.


	6. Boring Train Ride

"Chiharu made it sound as if it was _interesting_ on the train." Zoë said, stifling a yawn.

"I suppose it is, when you know people." Dante said, trying to be diplomatic.

"I wish Dethol had decided to take the train with us." Zephari sighed, staring out the window.

"Why do you like him so much?" Zoë demanded before thinking, "He's really weird."

"He's one of the only adults who'll talk to me." Zephari growled and Zoë realized her mistake, "He might be weird, or crazy, but he's still my best adult friend."

"And why do you like Professor Malfoy so much?" Zoë asked, quieter, determined to get answers.

"Because, he reminds me of my Dad." Zephari snapped.

Zoë's eyes widened. She had never heard Zephari talk about her dad before, especially not in reference to _Draco Malfoy_ of all people. She could not help but feel a little sour. "Well, at least you knew your dad."

Zephari glared at her, "Don't get all pouty, you asked me and I answered. At least you still have your mum."

Zoë turned away and took out her _1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi_ book, burying her nose in it with her curtain of messy black hair hiding her from Zephari. She felt hurt, but she knew that she should not feel offended or jealous of Zephari, who had neither parent still alive. Both of them still had it better than Ron and Hermione's children, she thought. Then again, they still had grandparents. Three of Zephari's four grandparents were dead, the other unknown.

After it had gotten dark and the lights had come on, Zoë sighed and closed her book. "Sorry." She mumbled, looking at Zephari through her bangs.

"S'okay." The other girl muttered, drawing designs on the window.

Dante rolled her eyes. "About time." She told them. "Now, both of you, eat some of these cauldron pasties with me, why don't you?"

Zoë moved her hair out of her eyes and took one, nibbling on it. She cheered up when Zephari took one and offered the grey-eyed girl a small smile, earning one in return. Zoë's pet cat, a tabby, named Harry, jumped up on the table and stole a pastry. "Harry!" Zoë cried, picking him up just as he gulped it down. "Bad cat." She chided, earning a smug look from the feline as he licked his lips.

Before the girls could react, Dante's cat did the same thing. He was a vibrant orange with white underside and chin, named Ronald. Zephari looked amused, in a slightly superior way, as she had an owl. As Dante scolded her pet, Zoë looked at her friend curiously.

"What?" Zephari asked calmly.

"Why don't you let Athen out of his cage? Ron and Harry wouldn't chase him, I'm sure." Zoë offered.

Zephari looked grateful. "Sure." She leaned over and opened her eagle owl's cage, letting him climb onto her arm. "Thanks."

Zoë shrugged. "Not my job to tell you what you can and can't do." She answered.

"Nope, that's Mum and Dad's job." Dante said pertly.

A knock sounded on the door as Zoë cleaned off her fingers after a second pasty. She looked up to see a relative mob of Muggle-clothed young wizards. She saw quite a few red-heads and instantly assumed they were simply a bunch of Weasleys, until she realized that the Weasleys would just bombard them during the school year not on the train.

"Go on, get in!" She heard a familiar voice, Alexis's, order.

A few Gryffindors were shoved in the door, all in their age group. Alexis shoved through while Alexandre closed the doors and barred them with his body. One boy in particular looked as if he wanted to evaporate on the spot. Alexis, for one, looked smug.

"Zephari, Dante, Zoë, meet Alistair-" the nervous boy, "Longbottom, Colin Finnigan," a boy with hair red enough to be a Weasley, "and August Wood." The other red-haired boy, "Al's in fourth but Sam and Gus are in third."

"Hi." Zoë said brightly, standing up, "I've heard about your dads, and probably your mums too. My name's Zoë Potter. My dad's Harry Potter, mum's Cho Chang."

"Neville Longbottom and Lavender Brown." Alistair mumbled.

"Dad told me about Neville." Zephari said quietly, now standing in the dark corner, where she had gone when she heard the knock. Zoë knew she did not like people that much. "Zephari Black, daughter of Athen Black and Lily Weasley."

Colin looked mildly surprised, "M'da didn't tell me Athen Black had a daughter."

"And your dad would be?" Zephari asked, somewhat coldly.

"Seamus Finnigan. Mam's Parvati Patil." He said with a bright Irish accent.

"Your dad's the Transfiguration teacher?" Dante asked quietly.

"Yup." He said proudly, "I'm juss like him, his friends say."

"You light everything on fire, just like he did when he was at school." Alexandre muttered, grinning.

"My dad's Oliver Wood, mom is Katie Bell." The last boy said quietly, with a similar accent.

"Old Gryffindor Keeper, went on to play for Puddlemere United?" Zephari asked, sounding interested. "And your mother was a Chaser."

"Precisely." August said.

"And I'm Dante Weasley, daughter of Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks." Dante added proudly.

Zoë grinned. "A born Metamorphmagus." She added.

"Really?" Alistair asked, warming up to them.

"Zoë..." Dante muttered, "Mum told me to keep it quiet."

"They're Gryffindors, like us." Zoë said brightly.

"For all you know, you could be a Hufflepuff." Zephari pointed out darkly.

"What's got your knickers in a bunch?" Colin asked of Zephari.

"She's half Slytherin, don't mind her." Zoë told them.

"You're half Ravenclaw." Zephari moved into the shadows to show she was grinning, "But heritage has nothing to do with it. Not all mud-muggleborns end up in Hufflepuff."

"Did you nearly call muggleborns mudbloods?" Alistair demanded, his eyes wide.

"I was mostly raised by my Dad, who's pureblood Slytherin." Zephari said dismissively, "Their terms kind of grow on you."

"You should watch your mouth at Hogwarts, it's a school." Alistair muttered crossly.

"And you think the professors are all manners?"

Everyone whirled to stair at August, who had a small grin on his face. Zephari looked amused, the rest were mixed surprise and horror. Except for Alexis and Alexandre, who were smirking.

"Don't let Aleanor catch you saying that. Professors are saints, in her mind." Alexis warned.

August grinned, "I know better than to let her catch me foul-mouthing her idols." He assured her, walking into the center of the little cabin. "You can't tell me you expected the profs to be perfect. They're only human, after all."

As if to prove him wrong, two loudly gossiping first years walked past the compartment door.

"I heard two of the teachers are _vampires_!"

"Oh yeah? Well the Care of Magical Creatures professor tried to sneak a _demon_ onto the train!"

"And the Groundskeeper was a giant at one point."

"And the Transfiguration professor lights things on fire constantly!"

"And the Divination teacher has been forced into hiding!"

"The Astronomy prof's nocturnal."

"The Potions teacher eats students."

A gasp, then, "No way!"

Their voices were then muffled by mad laughter from those in the cabin. August grinned superiorly. "Okay, maybe not human, but still imperfect."

Zephari shook her head, "Sev doesn't eat students, and humans are too stringy." She muttered, stifling laughter.

"Sev?" Alistair, Colin and August repeated in horror.

"Ye mean ye're _friends_ with that overgrown bat?" Colin demanded.

"Well... yeah." Zephari said proudly, "I'm friends with Professor Snape, Professor Malfoy and Professor Dethol. I'm also related to Professors Corner and Weasley."

"Wow..." The three chorused.

"What about you two?" Colin asked of the other two.

Zoë rolled her eyes. Again, Zephari had stolen the show. She understood how her Uncle Ron must have felt with her father always having the spotlight. "Dante's related to the same two, but we try to avoid familiarity with bats and demon-raisers."

August looked sceptical, Colin grinned and Alistair sighed in relief. She looked at the latter curiously, knowing the rest were as well.

"So she's the only weird one." He said gratefully.

Alexis grinned. "Now, Al, I thought you knew us Weasleys better than that!"

Alexandre put his arm around the Longbottom boy – who did not resemble any pictures Zoë had ever seen of Neville Longbottom – and Colin. "We're all mad as a hatter; you should know that by now."

Alistair rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm going to go change. You all should too, we're fifteen minutes away."

"How do you know that?" Zoë asked.

"His watch." Colin told her, dragging Alistair after him, "Had it since first year."

August seemed reluctant to leave until Alexis grabbed him by the sleeve. "Change." She ordered and he grinned sheepishly before running off.

Alexis and Alexandre wished them good luck before leaving. Zoë pulled on her Hogwarts robes with a thrill of excitement. She popped her head out of the top of her robe to see Dante flushed with anticipation and Zephari pale with nervousness. Zoë knew she was flushed as well.

The train ground to a pristine halt at the Hogsmeade station. Zoë nodded. "Right, we leave our things – and pets - here and go out on the platform." She told the others, who nodded tersely.

* * *

Dante swallowed bravely as she followed Zoë and Zephari off the train. She knew she could not show how afraid or nervous she was. She clenched and unclenched her hands, constantly checking her pocket for her wand. Ten and three fifths inches willow with the core of a phoenix feather; she now had her own wand with which to learn and practice spells.

"First years over here!" A voice called out, one she recognized.

So, apparently, did Zephari. The girl grinned impishly and ran through the crowd. "Dethol!" She cried, hugging him.

"Hey, there, Zeph." He said happily, hugging her back. "Where are your cousins? Ah, there they are. Alright you three?"

Zoë giggled suddenly.

"What?" He asked, looking perplexed.

"Mum said that Dad was always greeting like that from Hagrid." Zoë said.

Dante groaned. Zoë really should learn how to control her tongue. She kept saying things about those lost that got feelings hurt. She glared at her friend, who reddened and looked at her feet. Dante turned back to Dethol, who was calling the first years again.

"Dethol, how do we get to the castle?" She asked curiously.

Dethol grinned brightly, "Aha! So they had the decency not to tell you. Excellent." He murmured, "Just you wait, Dante, you'll love it. First years this way!"

A great many more children gathered around him, about forty in total. Once, Hogwarts had had more students but – due to the large drop in wizard numbers. Those who were of their age were the last of a great many number of wizards and witches, Dante knew, as their parents had died in the great war eleven years ago. All of them looked nervous, to an extent. Some sneered at others, others shook like leaves. And, Dante found, she felt as if she knew the majority of them already.

The platform had emptied except for Prefects and a few seventh years. Dethol nodded at this and motioned for them to follow him. "This way." He said briskly, with a different attitude to that which Dante was used to.

The first years followed nervously, looking around as they walked. Dethol led them to the edge of a glittering lake, across which they could see Hogwarts. Beside Dante, Zoë gasped and tugged on her sleeve. "It's beautiful!" Her friend breathed.

Dante nodded fervently and hurried into the same boat when Dethol indicated them. Zephari fixed every person who dared approach with a piercing glare. She looked murderous and Dante could tell that her nerves were getting to her. Her lips were pursed, her skin pale in the bright full moon's light and her grey eyes were flashing. She made sure they kept their boat to themselves.

Dethol looked around when they were all firmly in their little boats. "Keep your arms and legs inside the boat at all times," He told them cheerfully, making a few chuckle, "and hold on tight."

Dante gripped the sides of the boat just in time as the little wooden contraption sprung forward suddenly. Zoë toppled into her and Zephari, as she had been sitting in front. Dante grinned and pushed her back into her seat. "You should listen to your professors, Zoë." She warned her friend teasingly.

Zoë stuck her tongue out at Dante, who returned the favour. Zephari rolled her eyes and looked ahead eagerly. They reached a chamber beneath the school and followed Dethol up the stairs to a chamber behind the Great Hall. Dante felt a little distant from them all now, floating in a nervous bubble as they waited for the Deputy Headmistress to come and speak to them.

"Ah, thank you Dethol." A kindly voice said as a woman with blonde hair walked up behind Dethol.

"They're all yours, Hannah." He replied, smiling and sweeping off in his black robes.

"He's one of the vampires, don't you think?" A girl whispered to her friend.

"No, he's the crazy demon-keeper." Zephari whispered to her, smirking.

A few people laughed, though the two girls tittered nervously. "So... who're the vampires?" The second asked.

"The Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions professors." Dante said before the kindly woman drew their attention.

"Attention please." She said in a kind, yet authoritative voice, "As you all know by now, you are about to be Sorted into your houses. When the time comes, I will lead you through these doors into the Great Hall. You will then wait until I call your name and put on the Sorting Hat. It will place you in Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. While you are here, your House will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn your house points and your failures will lose them."

Zoë elbowed Dante and Zephari sharply. "Mum said that McGonagall always said the family bit." She told them, grinning.

"We will enter now. Please get into pairs and follow me." She ordered.

She got immediate results. It appeared everyone had taken a liking to the professor that Dethol had called Hannah. "Wait... Professor!" Dante whispered, pushing to the front before the doors could be opened. "Are you Professor Abbott by any chance?" She asked.

The woman nodded calmly. "Yes, I am. Back into line, please, Miss Weasley."

Dante blushed and went back beside Zephari and Zoë. They looked at her evenly and she made their sign for 'later'. They nodded and Professor Abbott went through the door. The first years obligingly followed into the Hall, lining up in front of the teacher's table. Dante gasped in spite of herself when she saw the enchanted ceiling, currently crisp and clear.

Candles floated above the tables, making the elegant goblets, cutlery and other dishes gleam brightly. These were all empty, but Dante knew they would fill upon the Headmaster's command. A gleaming banner displaying the Hogwarts emblem was hung behind the teachers. Dante waved excitedly at her Aunt Ginny and Uncle Bill, who waved back. She then waved at her cousins, who all waved from the Gryffindor table.

She bounced excitedly on her toes. The Sorting took place in alphabetical order, so she would be Sorted near to last. She was almost certain that she would faint from nervousness before then.


	7. Ratty Old Hat

A/N: Sorry for the bad song and the bad format before, I fixed up the format at least.

* * *

Zephari cringed nervously as Professor Abbott placed the old hat on a stool in front of them. She knew that the Sorting Hat had yet to not place someone, but she had a feeling it would have trouble with her. However, she forgot about that for a moment when the Sorting Hat began to sing.

"_Upon this stool I sing_  
_While all your ears ring_  
_The first-years are nervous_  
_The Prefects at your service_  
_And the others are all wishing_  
_That I would stop beating_  
_About the bush and sort_  
_No need to retort_  
_I'll place a few in Gryffindor_  
_Where true bravery is valued_  
_There those who stand up for_  
_Themselves and others are pursued._  
_I'll put a few in Slytherin_  
_Where cunning is prized_  
_And true friends are majoring_  
_Behind deceiving nature and lies._  
_A few more will go to Ravenclaw_  
_Where your brain is your friend_  
_These brainy folks will never find flaw_  
_In a studying friend._  
_And those that remain_  
_Will go to caring Hufflepuff_  
_Who treats everyone the same_  
_And takes everyone, sure enough._  
_Do not worry, I know_  
_Exactly what I'm doing, so_  
_Put me on your head_  
_And I'll put your in your stead._"

When it finished, the Great Hall broke into applause. Zephari found the song rather short compared to those her cousins and family had sung from their years. Maybe it was nerves that made it shorter, or the Sorting Hat was beginning to run out of ideas. Either way, she forgot all about the song when Professor Abbott walked up.

"When I call your name, come and sit on the stool and put on the hat." She told them, obviously in case they had forgotten. "Ashford, Annabelle."

A tall, wiry girl with soft brown hair stumbled up to the stool and took the hat. She looked pale enough to have fainted by then. She sat on the stool and jammed the hat over her eyes. However, the hat did not take long to declare her House: "Gryffindor!"

"Beauchamp, Gabrielle." A slender girl with rich blond hair and green eyes was Sorted into Ravenclaw and, before Zephari knew it, Professor Abbott called out "Black, Zephari."

She stared for a moment before advancing and taking the hat off the stool where Gabrielle had left it. She put it on, having it slide down to cover her face down to her chin. She then tried to get onto the stool and failed miserably. She had always been very small for her age and that made the stool seem like Mount Everest. She pushed the hat back on her head amidst laughter and climbed difficultly onto it.

_Having trouble?_ A taunting voice asked her, from her own mind.

_Don't make me have a reason to light you on fire; I'm quite good at it even without my wand._ She growled mentally.

It laughed slightly, _Spunky, I see. Reminds me of your mother, she was in Gryffindor. However, you're very much like your father, who was in Slytherin. You have the bright mind of a Ravenclaw, yes. And the loyalty of a Hufflepuff._

_You put me in Hufflepuff and I _will_ burn you on the spot._ She snarled.

_You would make great friends in Hufflepuff._ It said with amusement.

_I'm not a Puff!_ She mentally shouted, gritting her teeth.

_Alright, alright, you're not a Hufflepuff. You would be great with Ravenclaw. You have the potential to be rather studious and smart, excelling in all your classes._ It continued.

_I don't want to spend my time talking to books instead of people._ She said sourly.

_Then, how about Gryffindor? All the people there are brave and you will make great friends as well, who will stand by you almost as much as Hufflepuffs will._ It explained.

_Why are you sounding like you'll let me choose? You choose, you're the hat._ She muttered at it.

_Saying that makes you definitely not a Slytherin. They are cunning and sly, can make their own decisions without the help of others. Decidedly independent and ambitious._ It said scornfully.

_I'm as independent and ambitious as any Slytherin! I'm better than the lot of them!_ She snapped, rising to his provocation.

_So Slytherin it is._ The hat said with finality.

_Wait._ She told it sharply. _You just provoked me into saying that. Besides, I get horrible colds when I'm in the damp for too long._

_So what do you pick?_ It asked.

_I pick-_

"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted before she could say which.

_Cheater._ She accused it before taking it off and placing it on the stool as she slid off of it.

The Weasleys were all clapping and cheering, along with the rest of their table. She walked towards them with a smirk. A few of the Slytherins looked with surprise at her, but she did not care. She knew now that she would never have been able to survive with such a sour bunch. She sat down across from Annabelle and beside Alexis, who hugged her around the shoulders happily.

A golden brown haired boy named 'Boot, Tor' went to Ravenclaw while the Weasleys continued greeting Zephari with happy smiles. Alexandre leaned around Alexis with a broad grin. "You had us worried for a bit, Zeph." He admitted, "That ratty old hat took about five minutes to decide where to put you, even Dethol was looking worried."

She blushed slightly as 'Branstone, Margot' became the first Hufflepuff of the day. "It put me here, that's all that matters." She said brightly.

Alexis grinned. "Happy you are, mate. Imagine the horror of being in strictly-ruled Ravenclaw, boring Hufflepuff or stuffy Slytherin."

Zephari beamed at her cousins as 'Cauldwell, Laura' and 'Crabbe, Christopher' were sorted into Hufflepuff and Slytherin respectively. "Crabbe... Why does that sound familiar?" She mused.

"The majority of those in your year are kids from Mum and Dad's time." Alexis told her, "Crabbe was one of Malfoy's friends back at Hogwarts. He went on to be a Death Eater and died." She paused to clap as 'Creevey, James' joined Gryffindor.

"Most of them did." Alexandre murmured as 'Dane, Arnold' joined Hufflepuff.

"Douglas, Benjamin." Professor Abbott called and a blond-haired boy strode up purposefully to be sent to Ravenclaw in very little time. 'Finch-Fletchley, Hayley' followed suit in even less time. 'Flint, Nora' then went to Slytherin.

Alexis hissed. "Another one of the Flint idiots? Isn't one bad enough?" She moaned.

"They should just be cut out of the gene pool." Alexandre growled.

"Maybe Nora's different from her brother?" Annabelle said hopefully.

"She had better be, or she'll have a few jinxes heading her way." Alexis muttered crossly.

By then, the hat finally decided to send 'Forrester, Abe' to Gryffindor, making them all pause to clap. Zephari inched over to let the reddish-brown haired boy sit beside her. "Hello there, mate." He said cheerfully with an odd accent, sitting. "Abe Forrester, you're James Creevey, you're Zephari Black and you're Annabelle Ashford. Pleased to meet you three."

"Australian?" Alexis asked, incredulous.

"What's it to you?" Abe demanded, leaning back as Harold Foster went to Ravenclaw.

"Just curious." She replied.

"Australian, yes. Parents moved up here because they had a new job and Hogwarts accepted me as soon as we moved in." He answered, sounding joyful.

"Brilliant." Alexandre growled, hissing George Goyle as he sat down.

"Who're you two, anyways?" Abe asked of the second years.

"Alexis and Alexandre Weasley." Alexis told him sharply as Johnathan Harper joined Ravenclaw.

"About half this House is a Weasley." Annabelle informed him and Zephari grinned wolfishly.

"Too true." She agreed, "I'm one, so is Dante – the girl with blue hair up there – and Zoë might as well be."

"Gryffindor!" The hat cried and a reddish-brown haired boy with streaks of reddish blond hair joined their table.

He sat beside Annabelle, glancing at them all. "Liam Harrington." He said, extending a hand to Abe, who shook it somewhat grudgingly and introduced himself before shaking an excitable James Creevey's hand. Liam then shook hands with Zephari, who introduced herself with a smile, and Annabelle, who blushed slightly.

Beside her, Zephari could feel Alexis bristling. She wondered why, then realized that Alexis was more of a big sister to her than a cousin. With that, she prodded her cousin in the ribs. "I can take care of myself." She muttered, earning an apologetic smile.

Horace Jortin and Torrence Lestrange were put in Slytherin during the lull in their conversation. Zephari cringed inwardly. She had thought all the Lestranges to be dead. Yet, here was one of her great-grandfather's cousin's offspring. Probably raised by Death Eaters as well.

"Rumour has it a few of our professors are vampires." Abe said idly.

"None of them are. All our professors are human, even if Snape and Malfoy act like overgrown bats and Dethol is extremely weird." Alexandre said sharply.

"He's called Professor Dethol here?" Zephari asked curiously as Marie-Eve Losange went to Hufflepuff.

"Yes, because nobody can pronounce N'ataya properly." Alexis answered distractedly as Christien MacDougal went to Ravenclaw.

"He must be amused by that." Zephari observed, turning to look at him.

He met her eyes and winked. She smirked back and he rolled his eyes. He held up two thumbs and she returned them with a smile. She liked the possibility of spending time with him every day. He was delightedly eccentric, as she always told her cousins, and he was a kind of a surrogate father for her sometimes. She felt grateful for having such a close group of friends and family.

Michael Madley went to Hufflepuff then, distracting herself and Dethol. "McDonald, Natasha." A girl with near-white streaks in her reddish-brown hair hopped happily onto the stool. She had barely lowered the hat on her head when it shouted "Gryffindor!"

Zephari clapped as her next dorm-mate joined their group. She blinked in surprise. Already Gryffindor had three out of its five first year girls. She knew the Hat divided the years evenly every year, never leaving any doubt that each student was in the right House. She looked up in surprise when another McDonald was called by Professor Abbott; a Nathaniel McDonald, to be exact.

"My twin brother." Natasha explained, sitting beside Abe.

"Ah." Zephari said tactlessly, "I'm Zephari Black. These are Annabelle Ashford, Abe Forrester, James Creevey and Liam Harrington." She introduced, motioning to each in turn, "And these two eavesdroppers are Alexis and Alexandre Weasley."

"Pleased to meet you all." Natasha said brightly. "I knew I'd be in Gryffindor, but Nathaniel-" She fell short as the hat cried out Gryffindor, "-was unsure!" She finished, completely elated.

"See, Natasha, now you'll have to see him in class _and_ everywhere else." Abe said brightly, "And, in the mean time, you have the rest of us as your surrogate family as well."

"I pity her for being stuck with _him_ in all her classes." Alexandre growled, though only Alexis and Zephari heard him.

Katherine Medar and Veronica Parkinson joined Slytherin then. Zephari looked instinctively at Draco, as she always did when a Parkinson was mentioned, and saw that his brow was furrowed with irritation. She looked over at Snape, who also looked sourer than ever, and then at Dethol, who looked thoughtful.

Zephari grimaced. "A wonderful reunion." She muttered crossly, though none of her fellow first years understood.

Cynthia Perks was sent to Hufflepuff easily enough. Zephari met Zoë's eyes despite her friend's nervousness. She smiled and gave her two thumbs up, which were returned by her black-haired comrade. Dante had changed her hair colour five times since the last time Zephari had looked over the remaining waiting first years, which made the seated Gryffindor grin.

* * *

Zoë fidgeted nervously as 'Pier, Emily' went up to the hat. She knew she was close to being called up. She looked over at Dante, who changed her hair as she watched to neon green. Zoë snorted slightly and elbowed her, pointing at her hair. The girl grinned sheepishly and changed it to her natural Weasley red.

"Potter, Zoë." Professor Abbott called.

Zoë blanched and walked forward, taking the hat from Emily before the blue-eyed girl dashed off to Hufflepuff. Zoë sat on the stool and put on the hat. It nudged itself down her nose to cover her eyes. She supposed it did that to get their whole attention.

_Hello Miss Potter._ It said quietly.

_Gryffindor._ She thought firmly at it.

It chuckled. _I had no doubt. I just wanted to say such to you._ _Have fun in _"Gryffindor!"

Zoë swept off the hat and placed it on the stool, running to the Gryffindor table which had near exploded with clapping. She glanced over at the Ravenclaw table, finding her sister. Chiharu smiled and waved. Zoë waved back before running up to Zephari and hugging her from behind before being hugged by Alexis and hauled onto the bench between them, shoving over a boy and a girl.

"I knew it, Zoë! I knew you'd be Gryffindor!" Alexis cried joyfully.

Zephari smirked. "Never had a doubt." She said simply.

Zoë beamed happily, brushing back her black hair. "I _know_ Dante will join us too." She informed them.

Zephari grinned. "In the mean time, meet our fellows: Abe Forrester, Annabelle Ashford, James Creevey, Liam Harrington, and Nathaniel and Natasha McDonald." She said swiftly.

Zoë grinned. "Pleased to meet you." She said happily.

Zephari grinned at Natasha. "There go another pair of twins though to separate houses." She said as Faye Pritchard went to Ravenclaw while Matthew Pritchard joined Slytherin. "At least you and your brother are in the same house."

The girl nodded, "Too true. We've never been that close, though, always fighting." She confided.

Eric Quirke went to Hufflepuff then and Zoë examined a goblet, which was intricately engraved. She noticed that Zephari was watching the swiftly diminishing number of students to be Sorted. She looked up as well in time to catch 'Sheffield, Craig' being sent to Hufflepuff. Zoë was soon bored with watching it muse over where to send 'Tajid, Molly' and turned her attention to her fellows.

Abe Forrester was obviously an outgoing and rather happy bloke, like herself except a boy. Annabelle was quiet and pensive, yet smart and witty. Liam was quiet, considering and friendly. Courteous, as well, if she was any judge. James Creevey was distracted, often staring off into space. She had heard of the Creeveys from her mother, both had died alongside her father. Maybe that was why James was so out of it. Nathaniel was quieter than his sister, obviously preferring to watch rather than participate. He reminded her of Dante, in a way. Natasha was blunt and unafraid, quite the opposite of her brother at times.

Molly Tajid was sent to Ravenclaw and a boy named Xander Thomas took the hat next. The decision was instantaneous, sending him scurrying towards Gryffindor amidst their cheers. 'Vardil, Sean' took the hat as Xander sat down and everyone introduced themselves with smiles and handshakes.

* * *

Dante watched the goings-on at the Gryffindor table enviously. Oh how she wished she could be sitting with them instead of still waiting to be Sorted. Her stomach gave a tremendous heave as Sean Vardil was given to Hufflepuff. Professor Abbott's clear voice cut into her stupor, "Weasley, Dante."

She took a deep breath and walked bravely up to the hat. She sat on the stool for a moment before putting it on her head. It had barely touched her wavy hair before it yelled out "Gryffindor!" and Dante let out a sigh of relief. She beamed happily and handed it to 'Whitby, Sarah' before running off.

All the Weasleys seemed to be celebrating as she ran up. Gryffindor had all its first years then and the mob of red-heads descended on her with hugs and happiness. Nobody at Gryffindor heard Sarah Whitby being Sorted into Ravenclaw and they finally quieted when Professor Abbott did not call out the last student's name. It was apparent which house they would go to, though; as only Slytherin was short any students. Short two students, actually.

The Weasleys eventually sat down and Dante got a hug from Zoë and a smile from Zephari as Sora Zabini was sorted into Slytherin without a second's thought from the hat. It was then put away and instant babble started up as Professor Abbott seated herself. The caretaker was still the same man from her father's time, an Argus Filch. He looked as surly as ever as he took the hat and stool away.

Bill Weasley stood up and the babble died down obediently. Dante took a moment to reflect on how odd it was that her uncle with a fanged earring and long red hair was Headmaster. However, as the students quieted for him, she had no doubt in her mind that her uncle deserved to be Headmaster.

"Another year at Hogwarts begins," He said brightly, looking at his students, "with more starving students sitting in this hall. So I shall be brief. The Forbidden Forest is, as always, forbidden to all students. Mr. Filch had asked me to remind you all that the full list of two-hundred fifty-six banned items can be found on his office door and quite a few of you would do good to check it for new additions such as Never Fading Fireworks and Collapsing Catastrophes. Now that that is said, I have but two words remaining: tuck in."

As this was said, the tables filled with a wonderful feast which the new Gryffindors enjoyed in silence, due to stuffed mouths. They then followed their cousins Spring and Summer up to their dormitories. Spring smiled at them when they stopped in front of the Fat Lady. "Asphodel." She told the woman, who nodded and swung forward to admit them.

Spring took the boys up the stairs to their dorms, while Summer did the same for the girls. She gave Zoë, Dante and Zephari each a hug before leaving. As Dante lay back in her four-poster bed after changing, staring up at the hangings, she smiled. She, Dante Weasley, was in Gryffindor, at Hogwarts, with her two best friends ever. Life was great.


	8. First Week of Horrors

Zephari woke up to find something – some_one_ – jumping on her bed. She groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes to find a disgustingly awake Zoë hopping around her feet. A slightly groggy Dante was grinning widely at her through long, straight, red hair. Zephari glared at Zoë and shoved her off the foot of her bed, grinning as she landed on her feet.

"Can you believe it?" Zoë cried excitedly, "We're finally here, at Hogwarts, and in _Gryffindor_ and together!"

"I've got the canary!" A groggy Annabelle announced, sitting upright and opening her eyes with a tremendous yawn.

"A canary?" Zephari repeated.

"What?" Annabelle asked.

"You said 'I've got the canary' when you woke up." Dante giggled slightly.

"Oh..." Annabelle murmured, sounding greatly embarrassed.

"Don't worry, Anna," Zoë said good-naturedly, "My dad said his best friend once believed he was talking to spiders in his sleep."

The girl grinned and brushed her extremely curly brown hair out of her eyes before getting up and getting changed. Zephari debated for a moment, then decided there was no point of being shy and hiding as she changed. She got dressed as Annabelle did and looked around as soon as her head popped out of the collar. "Where's Natasha?" She asked curiously.

Zoë grinned devilishly, "She stormed out as soon as she changed, muttering something about crazy Potters."

Zephari smirked and looked over at Dante, who grinned at her. The Weasley's red hair was now a vibrant blue, as she had it most often. "Shall we go down to breakfast?" She offered, tucking several curly strands behind her ear.

They headed downstairs to the common room, where they found a sleepy Natasha waiting for them. She gave Zoë a fervent glare. "Next time you decide to hop on my bed, I'll have a hex waiting." She said sourly.

"Not a morning person, eh?" Zephari asked sympathetically, leading the way through the portrait.

She earned a sour grunt in response. Dante grinned slightly and Zoë blushed while giggling. Annabelle shook her head and took the lead, Natasha falling into stride with Zephari in front of the ever-giggling Dante and Zoë.

"You'll become an early-bird soon enough, trust me." Zephari muttered, "Mine and Dante's rooms back home have a door between the two and she's always barrelling through it at the most unholy of hours. Zoë's even worse, as she actually starts jumping on your bed at said hour. One week with her and I had learnt to forgo by sleeping habits."

Natasha blinked at her. "Too many big words for this early in the morning." She grumbled.

"You'll get used to it." Zephari said simply, laughing.

They reached their table easily, as all but Anabelle came from a wizard family with older siblings that had told them all about the short-cuts to reach the Great Hall. Of course, Zephari knew that she knew more than the others, due to her father's inquisitive nature. Too bad the Marauder's Map was nothing more than ashes, burnt when Voldemort had used it to get into Hogwarts. That did not mean that all the school-only passages had been blocked. Only those leading out of the school were beyond use.

They sat down at the end of the table nearest to the teacher's table. Zoë served Natasha some breakfast, as she was simply glaring about sleepily. The five boys joined them soon after. Liam and Xander sat on either side of Zephari while Abe sat beside Annabelle, Nathaniel beside his sister and James beside Zoë. They had just finished their breakfasts when the owl post arrived.

"Zoë," Zephari groaned, looking at the offender, "You woke us up so we could eat before _owl post_?"

At least she had the decency to turn a light shade of red. The boys, however, were chuckling. Zoë arched an eyebrow. "I can come and wake you guys up too, you know." She taunted and they shut up.

"Or Natasha could, since she's usually in a bad mood after being woken up." Dante added, grinning impishly.

Natasha seemed revived by the food and grinned slightly. "Boys can't go up the girls' stairs, but girls can go up the boys'." She said gleefully.

"Hey! No fair!" Abe cried, "How come girls get to invade our half of the tower?"

"Girls are more trustworthy than boys." Zoë said pertly.

"How deceived they are." Alexandre commented, sitting beside Liam on Zephari's right.

"Indeed." Alexis agreed, sitting across from him and, therefore, beside James.

"Delusional founders... Bet it was poor Godric who deemed such." Alexandre mused.

"Of course, Godric did everything for Gryffindor. I wonder if the other houses did the same thing..." Alexis replied.

Liam, Abe and Annabelle looked blank, yet the other seven grinned slightly. It was James who explained it this time. "The four founders of Hogwarts are Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw." He said simply.

"Merlin be thanked that those lunatics are long gone now." Alexandre said happily, delving into his breakfast.

Professor Finnigan moved up and down the table, handing out timetables. Zephari looked curiously at hers. "Excellent, no double subjects today!" She said gratefully.

"Ugh, Potions last." Zoë grumbled.

"Herbology first, then Transfiguration before lunch." Abe muttered.

"Ugh." They all chimed when they looked at the first subject after lunch: History of Magic.

"Why can't Binns do us all a favour and pass into the afterlife?" Alexis muttered. "Blimey, we've got him _first_ today. Why can't we ever have him last so we can have a nice pre-supper nap and not have to worry about later classes?"

"He can't be that bad." Annabelle said hopefully.

"Binns is a ghost, dead since before my grandparents came here." Zoë said bluntly, "He manages to make blood-thirsty goblin rebellions sound as boring as watching grass grow."

Liam grumbled. "I was hoping we'd get to start Defence Against the Dark Arts today." He said with disappointment.

Zephari grinned. "What? One overgrown bat a day isn't enough for you?" She teased.

He looked blank and she pointed up at the table. "The one with the greasy black hair is Professor Snape, potions master. The one with the blonde hair is Professor Malfoy, D.A.D.A. professor."

"They're the ones Margot Branstone and Cynthia Perks were calling vampires." Dante added brightly.

"But the only one you need to watch out for is Professor Dethol, the C.O.M.C. professor. He tried – and succeeded – in sneaking a Grindylow, a water demon, onto the school train last year when he started teaching." Zoë informed him.

"D.A.D.A.? C.O.M.C.?" Abe repeated.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures. Both are horrible mouthfuls, which is why they're shortened." Nathaniel told him, "My Mum's classmates used them."

"So did my great-grandfather, they're rather old terms." Zephari said dismissively.

"_Great_-grandfather?" Annabelle repeated incredulously.

Zephari took advantage of the situation, "He was a mass murderer, locked in Azkaban for twelve years only to escape. He was never found again, by the Ministry anyways." She said with a smirk.

James's eyes widened. "With a background like that, how come you're not in Slytherin?" He asked in a squeak.

"The hat does not place us, we place ourselves. _We_ choose our Houses, not the hat." Zoë said simply, "Those that know what house they want to be in are most easily placed, those who don't need to be prodded into a decision by the hat."

The others, except Dante and Zephari, looked doubtful. Zephari, however, shrugged and answered his question, "I thought so for a bit, but then I realized that I would never be able to stand being with so many dark and untrustworthy people. Plus, I get horrible colds in the damp, and the Slytherin common room is in a dungeon." She finished with a grin.

"How can you take it that lightly?" Abe demanded.

"How else should I take it?" She replied and no one could find an answer.

They finished eating and Zephari stood up. "We had best go get our books." She urged them and the ten first years hurried up to their dormitories, got their books, and headed out to the greenhouses. They arrived there in time to see the Hufflepuffs gathering.

"Excellent!" James said eagerly. "One class without the Slytherins!"

Zephari rolled her eyes, "You let them get to you too easily." She told him as they lined up.

All talk was cut off then as Professor Abbott hurried them into Greenhouse One. Zephari barely paid attention, wondering why such a boring and tedious subject was part of their learning. After that, they headed to Transfiguration, which was a purely Gryffindor class.

Professor Finnigan led them into the classroom and regarded them all evenly. "Welcome to Transfiguration. This is the class where you shall learn how to turn objects into things they are not." He paused then to turn Abe's desk into a teapot and back again. "Eventually, you'll learn how to turn humans into different beings." He added as an after-thought. "But, we must all start small."

He handed out a match to each student. "Your first assignment is to turn these matches into needles." He told them, amidst a few groans. "Hopefully you'll be able to do so in relatively few classes."

Zephari grinned. She knew all about Professor Finnigan's first Transfiguration class. He had lit no small amount of things on fire, as he had done in the majority of his classes. She found it interesting that he spoke with a lot less of an accent than Colin, but that must have come from years of practice.

It was soon clear, as it was every year, that turning matches into needles was more difficult than it seemed. Zephari managed to make hers turn shiny silver before class's end. Dante's was pointy at the end and Zoë's had a loop at one. The others were all a little behind them, but that had to be expected. Zephari and her cousins has been practicing magic with their elder cousins for years but never getting in trouble as they were not using wands.

Exhausted and irritated, the Gryffindor first years went for lunch in the Great Hall. "Finnigan's as much of a tyrant as I heard McGonagall was." James muttered. "Luckily for us Professor Corner's Head of Gryffindor."

"Professor Dethol would be the best Head of House." Alexis interrupted, as always, "He always gives us fun detentions." She said.

"Will you _stop_ butting into our conversations?" Abe demanded.

"Sorry, can't do that. Have to watch over my cousins." Alexis answered sweetly.

"Alexis," Aleanor called from farther down the table, "Hurry up and eat, or you'll be late for Herbology."

The red-head rolled her eyes. "What a shame if I miss _Herbology_ of all subjects." She grumbled, yet joined her twin.

The first years gulped down their lunches and walked up to History of Magic. Zephari glared at the girl's uniform of a skirt beneath one's robes. "Why do the boys get to wear pants anyways?" She muttered to Dante, "I mean, if we have to wear skirts, they should wear kilts or something."

Her cousin snorted with laughter, "Not quite the same thing, Zeph." She said.

"So?" Zephari demanded, "If they wear knickers underneath, it's the same."

The rest of the Gryffindors chuckled at that and they entered the History of Magic only to find it just as boring as the Weasleys had said it was. Nobody except Professor Binns could possibly make goblin rebellions sound as boring as he did. She took notes diligently, deciding to invest in a Quick Quotes Quill as soon as possible. Even if it embellished the truth a bit, it was better than trying to listen to the boring drone of Binns.

"Finally!" Zoë cried as Professor Binns drifted back through the blackboard.

"Couldn't've said it better myself." Zephari muttered.

"Knowing our luck, we'll have Potions with the Slytherins." James added.

"All Gryffindors have Potions with Slytherins, the Puffs have it with Rave's, after all." Natasha pointed out.

Sure enough, when they headed down the dungeons they saw the Slytherins waiting there as well. A few sneered at them, especially Veronica Parkinson, a pug-faced girl with dark hair and hazel brown eyes. "So, Potty, Weasel and their pet dog have finally arrived." She sneered even wider.

"Ah, so the pug, her two boulders and their Azkaban-loving friends beat us here." Zephari sneered back, beating her down easily.

Veronica would have retorted, had Professor Snape not led them into the dungeon classroom then. Zephari and her fellow Gryffindors sat at the far half of the dungeon, while the Slytherins sat at the close half. Frequent glares were exchanged before Snape closed the dungeon door and stalked to his desk at the front of the class.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class." He said firmly, making the wizard-born Gryffindors grin. "I will teach you how to ensnare the mind and bewitch the senses. I can teach you how to brew glory, bottle fame and even put a stopper in death, if you are not like the usual dunderheads I am forced to teach at this school."

"It's not exactly like Mum and Dad said he told them, but close enough." Dante whispered.

"Today, we will start with a Forgetfulness Potion. Instructions," He flicked his wand, "Are on the board. Begin."

He then went and sat behind his desk, glowering at them. Zephari grinned deviously and began working on her potion. She found it easy enough, which surprised her. She had laboured through Herbology and History of Magic. Transfiguration had been alright, but Potions was extremely easy for her. She looked up when Snape began moving about the room.

He paused beside her cauldron and made a little noise in the back of his throat. She smirked up at him and added her final ingredient. He watched doubtfully as it turned the perfect shade and she scooped some up, put a stopper in it and handed it to him with an impish smirk. "Done, sir." She informed him needlessly.

He took the potion with a minute glare, meaning he was pleased. She leaned back in her chair, aware of the glares from the Slytherins and the barely concealed smiles of her fellows. None of the Slytherins managed to come close to her potion-making skills and the majority of the Gryffindors did not fare very well either. The latter, however, were buoyed up by Zephari's success.

"Miss Black, please stay behind after class." Snape called as the bell rang.

Zephari packed up her things and approached his desk. She turned around to see her fellows waiting inside the classroom. She motioned for them to wait outside, though only Dante and Zoë understood. They ushered the others outside and Zephari turned back to Snape.

"Did Athen teach you how to make potions?" He asked bluntly, looming over her.

"No." She said, feeling slightly hurt, "I'm not allowed being naturally good at something?"

"Potions does not come naturally!" He growled.

"What if it does?" She retorted, "It did for Dad, it does for me."

"Did Draco teach you then?" He demanded.

"Nobody taught me! I just followed those instructions!" She protested, feeling her eyes tear up.

He looked frustrated and simply stared at her. "Dismissed." He muttered.

She turned away from him. "You're naturally good at potions and Athen was too. Why can't you believe I am?" She muttered before leaving the room at a jog.

* * *

"Good job, Severus." Draco muttered from the shadows, stepping out of them.

The potions master sighed irritably, "Don't you have a class to teach?" He demanded.

"No. This is my spare." The other said easily, "I must say, you have a great way with children."

"No Gryffindor is that good at potions." Severus growled, getting irritated with his once-pupil.

"She's Athen's daughter, and have you forgotten who Athen is?" Draco demanded.

"Of course not." Severus snapped.

"Good, because it would be stupid not to." The Malfoy said silkily before sweeping from the dungeon.

"Bloody Malfoys, bloody Blacks... bloody Potters and bloody Weasleys." Severus growled. "Why do they all have to be so superior?"

* * *

After that, the week went rather smoothly. Herbology continued to be a bore, Transfiguration continued to be all about changing matches into needles, History of Magic remained droningly monotonous and Potions became an enjoyable class with Snape's apology the next day. Defence Against the Dark Arts was begun with dark creatures, Astronomy was dull and Charms was as fun as expected.

However, the class that Zephari had been looking forward to the most had finally arrived: Flying lessons. August Wood had firmly told them that his father was a slave-driver, but he had their best interests at heart.

That only made Zephari anticipate it even more.

So, when they marched down onto the smooth grounds not even the sight of the Slytherins standing beside a tall red-headed man wearing Quidditch-style Hogwarts robes could discourage them.

"Everyone step up beside a broom." Professor Wood ordered crisply, making the first years hop to obey, "Hold your hand out over the broom and say 'up!'." He continued when they were all standing on the left side.

Zephari smirked at her cousins and the three girls looked down at their brooms and called 'up!' in unison, the three brooms hopping into their hands. Natasha, Nathaniel and Liam got it on their second try, while the rest of the Gryffindors took three or more tries. Zephari knew the Slytherins were doing about as well, as usual.

The class went without a hitch and Oliver Wood drew Zephari, Dante and Zoë aside at the end. "I would highly advise the three of you to try out for Quidditch next year." He told them with a wink. "I'm certain your cousins would be happy to educate you three over the holidays."

Zephari grinned and Zoë said something along the lines of 'yes, sir' before the three dashed off to supper that night. The supper was sweeter due to their triumph, Zephari found, and she felt a happy warmth in her stomach as she reached the common room that night.

"So, how was your first week of horrors?" Alexis asked as the three lounged beside the fire with their year-mates.

"Alright." They chorused, making the older Weasley grin.

"It gets better, though a little more monotone." She told them before going back to her work.

Zephari rolled onto her back. "I'm in no hurry to get to that point." She announced, watching the fire crackling above her.


	9. Day of the Dead

Before Zoë knew it, it was Halloween. Her favourite holiday of all, no matter what anyone said. Dante may prefer Christmas and Zephari may dislike every holiday in existence, but Zoë adored Halloween. As such, she made her two friends participate in her crazy tradition, which she had developed from the Muggle tradition: dressing up.

"Wake up, Zeph! Wake up, Dante!" She cried joyfully, jumping out of bed and changing into her costume of a vampire.

"Go 'way, Zoë." Zephari muttered, rolling over.

"Save me some pancakes." Dante added, doing the same.

"Spoil sports." Zoë growled, making her face pale with a special powder. "Up, now! The day of the dead does not wait for the living!"

"Pity." Zephari grumbled.

"Oh, cheer up Zeph! We're being vampires this year!" Zoë cried, tossing her a pair of special black robes.

"I'm ever so grateful." She muttered.

"Spoil sport." Zoë repeated, stepping up to Dante and prodding her sharply until she woke up. "G'morning, sleepy!"

"_Vampire!_" Dante screeched, rolling away and falling off her bed in the process.

Zoë giggled triumphantly. "Good, it's convincing."

"Anything's convincing when you're sleepy." Zephari muttered gruffly, changing into the robes. "What are these made of? Fifty layers? Are you trying to drown us in fabric?"

"Snape wears more layers than this." Zoë pointed out.

"He's an adult, he can carry heavy robes." Zephari snapped. "Hey, wait..." She smirked and muttered a spell on them to make them lighter. "Ha!" She said triumphantly.

"Come on, Dante, get up and become undead!" Zoë urged happily.

The girl sighed; rolling her eyes, and changed her appearance to one with pale skin, cat-like eyes, veins showing and black hair. She then pulled on the robes and muttered the spell to make them lighter before altering her teeth to make the canines abnormally pointy. She grinned wolfishly at Zoë, who scowled.

"No fair." She stated.

Zephari had taken the strange teeth-attachments and hooked them onto her canines. She grinned. "Good thing we're vampires every year." She said easily.

Zoë put her own in. "We are _not_ vampires every year. We were werewolves last year and I'm pretty sure we were dragons the year before."

"But the three years before that we were vampires." Zephari pointed out, "And we used these teeth every year."

"That's useful, as we can eat with them, unlike that first year." Dante pointed out. "We're lucky this is a Saturday, I doubt these robes are allowed."

"You're caring about _that_ right now? Dante, lighten up!" Zoë cried, horrified.

"Rule-breaker." Dante teased.

"Goody good." Zoë responded.

Zephari had been staring off into space during their little argument and Zoë touched her shoulder. She blinked in surprise. "We'd better go downstairs before Nat wakes up; you know how she is in the morning." She said distantly.

Zoë stared at her friend for a moment before leading the way downstairs. The common room was relatively empty except for the accustomed early risers. Suddenly, Zoë got an idea. "How about we go visit the boys?" She offered, smirking evilly.

Zephari grinned evilly, as did Dante. That settled it for Zoë. She led the way up the boys' part of the tower and into their room. They were all sleeping soundly. She giggled slightly and Dante barely managed to stifle her own mirth. Zephari looked as if she might like Halloween after all, which was saying a lot. They each went to their positions around the boy's beds, as they had discussed when jokingly planning such a prank: Zephari between Liam and Xander's, Dante between James and Nathaniel's while Zoë went to the foot of Abe's.

"Ready?" Zoë whispered.

The others nodded. "Ready." Zephari said, smirking at the sleeping forms of Liam and Xander.

"Ready." Dante whispered through another fit of stifled giggles.

"Three, two, one!" Zoë cried, grabbing Abe's ankles.

Zephari grabbed both of her 'charges'' arms while Dante did the same. Their plan worked perfectly, as the unexpected contact woke all five of the boys. Seeing the rather well-disguised girls must have frightened them, as they all screamed.

Gryffindor's four Prefects ran into the room at their screams, only for three of them to dissolve into laughter. Ryan Weasley had to clutch the doorframe to stay upright while Spring and Summer shook their heads in unison, tears forming in their eyes from laughter. The last Prefect, Francis Creevey, looked confused.

Zoë cackled and leaned close to Abe, holding him by the collar. "Happy Halloween." She said with a smirk.

Zephari had released her two captives, "Neither of them is even worthy of being my meal. Oh, and happy Halloween boys."

Dante had sniffed at James before turning and doing the same to Nathaniel. "No blood in these pathetic things. We should return another Halloween when they're mature enough for harvesting. Happy Halloween, Gryffindor younglings."

The three then swept out of the room past the laughing Prefects, leaving a very stunned group of first years behind them. Zoë started laughing uncontrollably, sitting by the fire, "I think we made Abe wet himself." She cackled.

"Liam knew it was us when he got a good look at me, but Xander looked pretty petrified." Zephari said with a smirk. "This Halloween is actually a little worthwhile. Why have we never thought of scaring anyone before?"

"We had no one to scare, remember?" Dante added, grinning as well. "Nate and James both looked ready to cry."

Natasha came stumbling down the stairs from the girls' dorms. "I heard someone scream, is everyone alright?" She asked.

The three started laughing again and Annabelle joined Natasha before grinning slightly. Only Natasha did not understand, until Zephari quieted her laughter, "We gave them a bit of a Halloween scare." She told Natasha, "It appears that the lot of them are _quite_ afraid of their classmates dressed up as vampires."

Both other girls began to laugh as well and the five had another hearty chuckle before boys came down the stairs. Abe glared at Zoë and the other two. "That was _not_ funny!" He exclaimed.

"Are you kidding?" Liam countered, "It was bloody brilliant!"

The other three murmured in ascent with Liam, earning glares from Abe. Nathaniel was still a little pale, yet he was smiling. "Next year, we should all pretend to be vampires and go around scaring first years."

Zephari looked pleased. "Halloween may be a worthwhile holiday after all."

"Hey... The Slytherins..." James said simply, grinning evilly.

"We'll scare them for you." Zoë said brightly, standing up. "Come on, you two; best to catch them in the gloom of the dungeons."

"Can we come with?" Annabelle asked shyly.

"Discreetly." Zoë told them. "Stay just in earshot, alright?"

That settled, the first year Gryffindors left the common room in groups. Zoë, Dante and Zephari went first with the other seven following behind. Zoë adopted a stalking walk, baring her pointed teeth at a few portraits. Zephari had adopted a surly expression, though Zoë knew she was elated. Dante was snapping her teeth at a few portraits on the other side of the hallway.

"Very nice disguises, dears," A portly wizard commented.

"Yes, very convincing." His portly witch companion added.

"One of the best." The wizard finished proudly.

"Yes, yes indeed." The witch agreed.

They reached the dungeon corridors without seeing many other students. They hid in one of the spare classrooms, waiting for the sounds of the Slytherin first years' passing. They did not have long to wait before they heard Veronica Parkinson's snobby voice. Zoë pushed open the door of their hiding space, having it creak mysteriously and ominously.

"What was that?" She heard Nora Flint ask.

"Dunno, let's check it out!" The eager voice of Matthew Pritchard said.

Footsteps neared and Zoë tensed, glancing at her two friends. The ten Slytherin first years walked into the classroom and looked around. They did not see Zoë hiding in the shadows near the door. The only light came from the doorway, so they could not see Dante or Zephari. Once they were in the center of the classroom, Zoë closed the door with a slam.

"What the?" A few cried, whirling to see Zoë in front of the door.

"Vampire!" The majority screeched at that moment.

Zoë advanced towards the center of the room along with Zephari and Dante. "So hungry..." She breathed.

"We've been deprived of nourishment for so long..." Zephari moaned, stretching out a pale hand.

Zoë was amazed by how vampire-like her friend looked without any makeup. Dark robes and a pair of elongated canines made her friend just as pale; her veins stand out just as much, as Dante's metamorphmaging and Zoë's powder-technique did. She glared at Zephari and she withdrew her hand with a hiss.

"I sense fear." Dante announced, watching Torrence.

"I smell blood. Fresh blood..." Zephari growled, advancing.

Zoë glared at her again. They had already established that Zoë would be the dominant one, Zephari the hungry and creepy one while Dante would be the quietly dangerous one. "Wait. The more fear, the better the blood."

"Can we not even kill one of them? Just for a little bit of fun?" Zephari demanded, looking hungrily at Horace Jortin.

"No. Not yet." Zoë growled.

"Don't eat us!" Katherine Medar cried.

"We'll give you anything you want! Gold, jewels, anything!" Sora Zabini added.

"Just don't hurt us!" George Goyle said in a high-pitched voice.

"Our families are very rich!" Christopher Crabbe added in the same tone.

"Silence!" Zoë barked. "We do not want your mortal trinkets."

"Just your blood; all we want is your sweet, live blood." Zephari purred, stretching out a hand as if to touch Horace Jortin's cheek.

"I will have first drink." Zoë snarled quietly.

Zephari withdrew her hand with a withering glare, her eyes twinkling as she did so. "Then get it over with, I am dying of hunger."

"Their blood must sustain us until we leave the grounds." Dante reminded them casually, looking Veronica up and down. "We will need to hasten once we are done."

"Help! Help us!" Matthew began yelling as loud as he could.

Zoë advanced on him, clapping a hand over his mouth. "Silence, mortal. Or do you want us to go after your family as well?" She demanded, not letting him respond.

"Finish it already!" Zephari growled.

Zoë approached, as if to bite his neck and simply whispered in his ear. "Get out." She snarled.

"What?" Zephari demanded.

"They are not worth it. We will be able to come after them later, when they have more magical energy. Then they will be worth being discovered." Dante snarled.

"Are you all deaf?" Zoë demanded. "I said _out_!"

The Slytherins stumbled over their own feet as they ran for the door and into the corridor. The sounds of their footsteps quickly dwindled to nothing, replaced by laughter from their companions. The seven other Gryffindors emerged from the store room, doubled over with laughter.

"You three are bloody _brilliant_!" Liam cried, giving Zephari a hug around the shoulders.

"Absolutely magnificent!" James chimed, patting Zoë on the back.

"Positively devious." Xander added, beaming around at them.

"You fooled them so well!" Annabelle cried, hugging Dante.

"We'd better hurry to breakfast." Natasha said, grinning, "Then we can all go lounge around the lake."

"But, we have homework to do!" Dante protested.

"It can wait one more day, Dante. Come on, it's _Halloween_!" Zoë cried.

* * *

Zephari felt a little guilty about not being such a festive person, even when Halloween was a fun holiday. She just could not help but think that she would not even be born if she had not been born fifteen days earlier. She could not help but think that, twelve years ago, her mom had died. She smiled for the others, staying in a kind of stupor on the way to breakfast. She ate mechanically and, when they went out to the lake, she stared at its sparkling surface, unable to think of anything but what Halloween meant to her.

She got up suddenly and went to the lake's edge. She picked up a small, smooth rock and threw it as hard as she could across the lake. It made a large splash and did not even skip once. She picked up a bigger one and threw it, not skipping. A tentacle flicked the two rocks at her feet and she glared at the lake. She felt mocked by its serenity and peace. It seemed to say that even if the world had lost so many people twelve years before, it made no difference.

"But it does." She growled, throwing the first rock again and managing to make it skip twice. "They should still be here." She threw another, skipping it three times and having them returned to her by the squid, "Those fighting on the good side should still be here." She whispered, skipping the first five times.

"A knut for your thoughts?" A kind voice asked beside her.

Zephari rubbed her eyes dry with the back of her hand. She looked up at the kind face of Dethol, framed with slightly wild strawberry blond hair. His clear blue eyes were concerned and she took heart from that. She looked over at her friends, some of which were watching her.

"Perhaps a walk would be a good idea." Dethol offered and she nodded.

They walked off around the edge of the lake. "Do you know what day it is?" She asked quietly, looking at the dirt beneath her feet. "It's Halloween, the thirty-first of October."

He did not respond and Zephari was grateful for that. She just needed someone to talk to; someone who would not tell her to calm down or lighten up or tell her not to worry or think about it. She was tired of getting those responses. All she needed was someone to say nothing, just nod and urge her quietly on.

"They should still be here!" She cried suddenly, clenching her fists, "They shouldn't have died against Voldemort and his cronies! They should be here! They should be able to look outside and see how nice a fall we're having! They shouldn't be enclosed in tombs in the ground with flowers on top of them." She started to cry and he hugged her around the shoulders. "They should still be here." She trailed off, "They should..."

She had not noticed that they stopped, but she was aware that Dethol was hugging her and stroking her hair, doing what her father had done back when he was alive. He, too, had died on the thirty-first of October. She hated the day with a passion; for all that the holiday was amusing. She had forgotten how much she hated it when she was terrorizing others as a vampire, but it had hit her anew as soon as she left.

"Come on, let's go inside." Dethol urged, "I'll make you a cup of hot chocolate."

She followed numbly, his guiding arm around her shoulders. She was aware of the stares of the others, but she did not care. She hated Halloween. She always would, no matter how many people she terrorized.


	10. Explanation and Discovery

"What's the matter with _her_?" Abe demanded scornfully.

Dante glared at him. He had some nerve taking that tone because Zephari was an orphan and did not like it. She reached over automatically, restraining Zoë from leaping at him. "Today isn't just Halloween, you know." Dante growled.

"Whatever today is, it's no reason for her to go crying to a professor." The boy snapped, pushing his swiftly lengthening reddish-brown hair out of his eyes.

"Her parents died today, alright, so just bug off!" Zoë snapped, "Her Mum died fifteen days after she was born, her Dad died when she had just turned five."

"Why the hell would she go and die fifteen days after child birth?" Abe demanded, incredulous.

"That's it, let me at him!" Zoë snarled, struggling against her cousin.

"I mean, it's rather stupid to run off and leave a kid all alone as a newborn!" He blabbered on.

This time, Zoë did not need to struggle. In fact, Dante had given up on restraining her cousin in exchange for leaping at the idiot herself. They weren't alone, as the rest of the wizard-born first-years had either jumped at him or tried to restrain those attacking; Annabelle and Liam each grabbed Dante and Zoë by the arms instead of joining in; as they were deemed most likely to cause damage to the insolent idiot.

"Let me go!" Zoë snarled, fighting furiously against Liam's restraining arms, "He insulted all those who died against Voldemort! Let me at him! Let me rip him apart!"

Dante was fighting as well, ready to join her cousin in pummelling Abe. So what if he was a member of the same House? At the moment, she hated him. She wanted him to apologize and say that all those who had died against Voldemort had died for a noble cause. She wanted him to take back what he had said against her uncles and aunts!

Before she knew what was happening, several larger and heavier people had joined in the fray, grabbing and restraining the furious first years. Dante struggled until Abe was picked up by two pairs of helpful hands. He was sporting a black eye, a cut lip and was crying angrily. She instantly felt guilty, but also slightly satisfied.

"Stop it, all of you!" A commanding voice ordered, one Dante recognized all too well.

"Carly?" Dante asked.

"Explain yourself, Dante." Her sister ordered, releasing her.

Dante turned to meet her sister's furious face. Despite the fact that Carly was also a Metamorphmagus, she kept her features natural. She looked up into her face and cringed away as her cousin put her hands on her hips. She lowered her eyes and realized that she had changed her own features back to normal.

Zoë had struggled free of Fern and Willow's hold to stumble to a halt beside Dante, glaring at Abe. "He was making fun of Zephari for being sad today." She growled, "He made fun of Lily for 'going and dying' not too long after Zeph was born!"

Their rescuers, who were revealed to be all the elder Weasleys and a few others, turned to glare at Abe. "I thought she had killed herself or something..." He mumbled dispiritedly.

"What made you think that?" James demanded, also irritated with Abe for having insulted those who had fought on the 'Potter side' of the war.

"Because..." Abe looked at his feet.

"Because that's what your mom did?" Alexis finished for him, not at all kind. "Whatever made you think that anyone – _especially_ Zephari's Mum – would do the same thing?"

The boy looked properly abashed and Dante stepped in front of him, her arms crossed. "Apologize." She growled.

"I'm sorry I said that about Zeph's Mum, I really wasn't thinking." He mumbled.

"That," Thomas muttered, "Is obvious."

Fern, Willow, Ryan, Elida, Aleanor, Spring and Summer all glared at him. Chiharu had arrived sometime during their dispute and had wrapped Zoë in a makeshift hug-headlock to keep her from attacking. Alexis, Alexandre, Thomas, Carly, Brandy, Ralph and Scott looked ready to attack at the slightest wrong move. The remaining few – Joseph, Daniel, Felix, Leif, August, Colin and Alistair – looked indecisive.

"He's apologized, that's all we can ask for." Fern snapped with authority, volume and fervour that none had ever heard from the docile eldest Weasley.

"Zoë, Dante, how about both of you head upstairs and get changed into something that meets regulations." Willow murmured.

"We'll take them." Natasha offered.

"That would be a good idea." Fern agreed, her twin nodding.

Dante's arm was taken lightly by Annabelle, who steered her in the direction of the castle. She turned around in time to see Liam, Xander and Nathaniel glare at Abe before following. James had obviously opted to stay with Abe, who was now sitting miserably at the foot of the tree they had so happily sat under less than fifteen minutes before.

* * *

Zephari shook slightly as she sat in Dethol's office beside the fire. It was cozy there, but the large clock – displaying the day, the month and the year, as well as hours, minutes and seconds – did not help her forget what the day was. She shivered and Dethol gave her a blanket to wrap around her shoulders. He had made her change back into her Hogwarts robes, and she had accepted gratefully. She did not want to remember anything about Halloween at the moment.

The door opened roughly and Zephari looked up with a start. Her Aunt Ginny was standing in the doorway, looking afraid, "Dethol, have you seen Zephari?" She asked quickly, "The other Gryffindor first-years got in an argument and we can't find her anywhere!"

"She's fine, Ginny, she's right here." Dethol told her quietly.

Ginny nodded. "I need to speak to you, Dethol." She murmured, "Alone."

Zephari ducked back in her armchair. They had to talk about her, obviously, or they would not be leaving the room. Or maybe her fellow Housemates, but they did not want her to repeat what they were saying. Which made her all the more determined to listen, so she could hear what her Aunt and favourite adult had to say about her and her friends behind their backs.

She wrapped her blanket tighter around her and went to the slightly open door, leaning close to listen. Later, she would wish she never had.

"What is it, Ginny?" She heard Dethol ask quietly.

"The reason the other Gryffindors were fighting... Abe Forrester was confused as to why Zephari was sad. He said a few... rash... words and all but Liam Harrington and Annabelle Ashford attacked him. The older Weasleys, August Wood, Colin Finnigan, Alistair Longbottom and Chiharu Potter arrived in time to restrain them and keep them from doing any serious damage." She paused slightly. "I think it's best if Zephari does not learn this... He thought Lily had killed herself. That's what his mother did, not too long after he was born."

Zephari opened the door without thinking. "My mum did _not_ kill herself!" She exclaimed.

"We both know that Zeph," Dethol told her quickly.

"Promise me you'll leave Abe alone." Ginny ordered firmly, "It's not his fault he's had bad experiences. If any Gryffindor first year so much as throws a punch at him, all of you will have detention."

Zephari's eyes narrowed. "Fine." She growled, taking off the blanket and giving it to Dethol, "Thanks." She muttered in an attempt to be kind before shoving past both of them.

* * *

"I wonder if Zephari's alright..." Liam sighed as they sat on the common room floor.

"She'll be fine." Zoë informed him, her knees tucked up to her chest, "She always is."

She saw him blink in surprise and sighed herself, staring into the happily crackling flames in the fireplace. She felt slightly mocked by them. She turned her back on them, facing her comrades. James and Abe had refrained from showing their faces in the hour or so that had passed. _Good riddance,_ She thought irritably, as Abe had been getting on her nerves prior to that moment.

"So... she's like this every Halloween?" Xander asked quietly.

"Yeah, but don't mention it. She likes it better when you don't." Dante whispered.

It was then that the portrait door opened and Zephari stepped through. Zoë got to her feet first and went up to her cousin. "We were worried about you." She said truthfully.

"Sorry." Zephari replied evenly, avoiding her gaze. "I shouldn't have run off."

"You mean: I would've liked to help you fight Abe." Natasha pointed out innocently.

"Nat!" Dante hissed.

"Don't worry, I heard about what he said." Zephari said in a frightening growl. "To put it simply: He's not getting a Christmas present from me for the next five years."

Zoë hugged her friend around the shoulders, "Let's not talk about that right now." She encouraged. "We all missed lunch, so we'll just have a big supper. You know how everyone says the Halloween feast is great, right?"

Zephari mustered up a smile for her, making Zoë smile back. "Sure, I'll join you guys."

"I wonder what kind of state the Slytherins will be in by then?" Natasha mused.

"Oh?" Zephari asked.

"Rumour has it they've been hiding out at the top of the astronomy tower." Liam said with a small smile for her.

"Professor Snape, however, has dismissed their claims as attention-seeking." Xander added, smiling himself.

Zephari grinned evilly, "Good." She stated simply.

* * *

Dante was content to simply lounge about with her friends and cousins all afternoon. They hurried down the feast as soon as dinner was nearing being ready. They sat expectantly at the end of the table only to find they were not alone. The first-year Slytherins were shivering at the end of their table, closely watched by Professors Snape, Malfoy and Dethol.

Zephari got up and started for their table. Dante and Zoë's eyes met as they exchanged grins before following. Dante turned, smiling, to see the rest of their friends following. They stopped at the end of the Slytherin table, Zephari smirking superiorly and the rest grinning smugly.

"I heard you guys nearly got eaten by a few vampires down in the dungeons," She drawled, "Too bad they didn't finish you off, would've saved us a load of trouble."

"Shut up, Black." Veronica snapped.

"Quiet, Parkinson, or I'll tell the vampires the Slytherin password." Zephari retorted menacingly.

"You don't know it." Matthew sneered.

"Oh, and if I do? It's _Avada Kedavra_, by the way." She said, still smirking, "Didn't believe me? Well, now you do."

They glared at her in unison.

"I'll get you someday, dog." Veronica growled.

"Don't count on it, pug-face." Zephari replied coolly, striding away.

Dante grinned at her cousin. "That was _brilliant_, Zeph." She applauded.

"Thanks, Dawn." Zephari replied as they sat down again.

"It was really good, Zephari." A quiet voice mumbled from a little farther down the table.

Dante turned to see Abe and darkened angrily. "What do you want?" She demanded.

"It's okay, Dawn." Zephari said quietly. "I heard about what you said about my Mum, Abe," She continued, louder, "And I know you didn't think before saying it. I've been told not to hurt you, or else I probably would hit you a few times. However, I can't so I'll settle for this: If you _ever_ talk about my parents or any other Gryffindor's parents that way _ever_ again, I'll be the first to hex you."

He reddened and Dante finally felt her anger ebb away. "I won't." He promised.

"Good." Zoë said brightly, "Now we don't have to worry about stepping on each other's toes during supper."

The rest of the school began filing in quickly, filling up the Great Hall in due time. The professors arrived with the students and, as Dante felt her stomach begin to growl painfully, the Headmaster stood up to greet them. "Happy Halloween!" He announced, smiling kindly down at them.

A murmur of agreement spread through the Hall, though a few people did not share the happiness. This was apparent as Bill Weasley looked down on them all, his long red hair held back in a ponytail and his fanged earring catching the candlelight. The bats stirred restlessly in the eaves, making a rustling noise above the murmurs.

"Though, indeed, to some of us it is not so happy." He sighed, "Today, on the day of the dead, we mark the anniversary of the passing of numerous great wizards. Thus, I propose a toast, to those who died for us in the war against Voldemort."

The entire Hall lifted their goblets – suddenly filled with pumpkin juice – in tribute and drank. Dante noticed, with a start, that even the Slytherins followed suite. She had a nagging feeling that half of them – those that had been slower to answer Professor Weasley's prompt – had proposed a toast of their own. However, she raised her own in complete agreement with her uncle.

"Now that we have honoured those we have lost, we can all eat and be merry." He concluded with a smile for them all as food appeared in front of them.

* * *

Veronica glared at the Gryffindors throughout the feast. "Why do they have to be so arrogant?" She whined.

"Because they're _Gryffindors_." Matthew muttered.

"I swear that Black should be in Slytherin." Sora growled.

"What?" The others demanded.

"Well, look at her!" She continued, "She's cunning, sly, pureblood, vicious and ambitious."

"She's related to _Granger_." Veronica hissed.

"She's related to the entire house of Black, which is all purebloods!" Torrence said proudly.

"I still hate her." Veronica growled.

"You just don't like the fact that she's better than you at... well... _everything_." Nora snickered, making Crabbe and Goyle guffaw.

"Don't you two have brains?" Veronica snapped at them.

Christopher looked a little stunned, "Yeah." He grunted.

"We're just being good little cronies like our parents want us to." George told her.

"Either way, stop being such trolls." She ordered.

Veronica took another bite of pudding, glaring across the hall at Zephari's back. How ironic that she, a Slytherin, would be irritated because a Gryffindor was such a... well, a bully! She swallowed the dessert without tasting it. Wait until her grandparents heard about that. She glanced sideways at Professor Malfoy, her father, with a grumble. He had taken in a boy her age and called him his son, but he had not taken in Veronica. She hated him too. She hated them all.


	11. Celebrate Good Times

"Look, Zephari! Here comes Athen!" Zoë cried happily one morning.

Zephari looked up and smiled to herself. It was not Athen, but Alba. Alba glided down in front of her, a letter tied to her leg. Zephari took it, but decided not to open it in front of her friends. She pocketed it, her friends staring at her as she did so. They dared not ask why, though, so they all returned to their breakfasts.

Moments later, Athen himself landed in front of her. Zephari took his letter, which was from The Burrow.

_Dear girls,_

_I know that you three have probably made friends by now but we're all staying at The Burrow during the holidays. You three are invited to come home as well, but no friends this year. That will come with time. Everyone else has already assured us during the summer holidays that they will be coming home. Send your answer back to us with Athen, he likes it here._

_Sincerely,_

_Charlie_

Zoë and Dante leaned over her shoulders to read it. Zoë rolled her eyes. "Obviously we'll be going home for Christmas!" She exclaimed.

Dante nodded and Zephari scribbled a quick note on the back of the letter, attaching it to Athen's leg. "Bring this to The Burrow, alright? Feel free to laze around a bit, too." She told him, smoothing his wings.

He bobbed his head and nipped gently at her finger before leaping into the air, proceeding with a powerful downbeat. She was somewhat envious of him for his ability to be so graceful, yet so menacing. She watched him fly off before noticing Alba circling. She smiled lightly to herself. Alba would come find her when she finished her response to Sirius.

She felt remarkably happier after breakfast, light on her feet as she went to Defence Against the Dark Arts. She sat at her usual spot, last row, with Dante and Zoë on either side. Liam and Xander sat in the row in front of them. Annabelle, Abe and James sat at the row second-nearest to the front. The front was occupied by Natasha and Nathaniel. They always sat in the same places.

"Good morning." Draco Malfoy said, looking them over. "I trust you all finished your essays on werewolves? Yes? Good, put them on my desk now if you please."

Zephari took out her essay, two rolls of parchment as requested. Dante and Zoë did the same, Dante's slightly longer and Zo's largely scrawled. She saw that Xander and Liam's were both just under the limit and that Abe's was horribly short in comparison. "I'll take them." She offered, picking them up from her friends and bringing them up to the professor's desk.

"Thank you, Mrs. Black." He said, nodding.

Zephari grinned impishly before striding away, having left a tightly folded piece of parchment alongside her essay asking him if he and Sirius were staying at The Burrow for the holidays as well. The class went rather well, as it was spent on clearing a few misconceptions about werewolves. She found werewolves intriguing, probably because one had been her great-grandfather's close friend back when he was alive.

It was a double period and the last before the holidays, as they had Friday afternoons off. When the bell rang for lunch, Zephari beamed at her cousins as they gathered their things. She was prepared to follow the babbling Gryffindors out of the room when Draco's voice rang out. "Miss Black, a moment, if you please?" He asked.

Zephari motioned her friend ahead, turning to face him. "I got a letter from Sirius today, but I haven't had time to read it." She said brightly.

"Yes, I gathered as much, due to your note. He explains everything in his letter." Draco informed her with a small smirk.

"He's a good guy, Uncle Draco." She told him with an evil grin, "Too bad he's doomed to be in Slytherin."

"Too bad you're a Gryffindor, you mean." He replied.

"I'd rather be a healthy Gryffindor than a constantly sniffling Slytherin." She countered, "The cold and damp just doesn't agree with me."

He chuckled, "Read your letter, Zephari, then hurry off to lunch." He told her.

Draco swept out of the room with his normal stalking walk. Zephari was happy for his invitation to stay behind and read the letter from his son. It was good that he did not disagree with their correspondence. She took the letter out of her pocket and ripped it open:

_Dear Zeph,_

_Sorry for the long wait for a reply, school has been particularly difficult, dark and gloomy lately. I received a letter from father just now, looking like he was having a fit of apoplexy while he was writing. Apparently, we're spending the holidays at The Burrow. My brother won't come; he hates the Weasleys' place. I find it better than Snape's place, after all. Snape isn't coming, father says that he can't stand spending more than two months a year out of the Slytherin dungeons._

_All is well here, though I can't wait to switch over to Hogwarts. Durmstrang's too dark for even my liking. I like dungeons, but those here give anyone who enters them without full winter gear pneumonia. I guess that means I'll be in Slytherin after all. (Don't you smirk so smugly at me.)_

_Give Zoë and Dante my regards and greetings. (You're smirking again.)_

_Sincerely,_

_Sirius_

Zephari grinned at the letter. She missed her friend, though she had only known him for a short time. She put the letter back in her pocket and ran down the many steps to the Great Hall. She sat happily between her cousins.

"Did Christmas come early?" Natasha asked, grinning.

"Nah, Zeph hates holidays." Dante replied, "What's up?"

"We've got visitors over the holidays." Zephari said brightly.

"Oh, who?" Zoë asked eagerly.

"Sirius and Draco." Zephari answered, smirking at their expressions of horror.

"And 'Sev'?" Dante asked rather mockingly.

"He refuses to leave his dark, gloomy dungeons for more than two months a year." Zephari said glumly.

Zoë and Dante rolled their eyes at her. "There goes our holiday fun." Dante muttered.

"Ah well, at least 'Sev' won't be there to ruin it even more." Zoë told her.

"True." Dante agreed.

"Worst comes to worst, Zeph will go off with Sirius and we'll be able to cause mayhem with Mandy. We can train her up to replace Zephari in two years." Zoë said with a grin.

Zephari raised an eyebrow. "You can't cause mayhem without me, _I_ make all the plans." She said smugly.

Zoë sighed dramatically, "Too true. How will we survive?" She moaned.

"We won't." Dante said bluntly, "We'll turn into goody-goods like Anna and let the Weasley reputation rot."

Zephari smirked, "Which is why you can't replace me. You also don't need to worry about doing so, as I won't leave you two for Sirius. Best friends and cousins come before boys, always."

Dante grinned broadly, "We made that pact when we were six." She said happily.

"And we still live by it." Zoë agreed, hugging Zephari around the shoulders, "Remember, _we know where you live_ so don't try anything."

* * *

"Hurry up, Zoë! We'll miss the train!" Dante called up the stairs.

"No we won't, we've got three hours." Zephari corrected.

Alexis burst into the room. "That's it, Zoë, you're slower than a Bowtruckle so we're going to help you pack!" She announced.

That was all the warning she got before Alexis and Brandy Weasley invaded her room. The two girls packed what they deemed necessary into Zo's bag, ignoring her vehement protests, and lugged it down the stairs. Zoë followed, having turned a rather bright red in embarrassment.

"What took you so long, anyways?" Zephari asked her as they headed down the stairs, each carrying a bag full of their keepsakes.

"I'm a slow packer." Zoë said evasively.

In truth, she had gotten distracted by staring at a few pictures she and her housemates had taken. The smiling faces of Liam, Xander, James, Nate, Nat, Abe and Anna would be greatly missed during the short time she would be away. Nat's wry humour, Anna's quiet agreement, Abe's rowdiness, Nate's quiet presence, James's loyalty, Liam's obvious adoration of Zephari and Xander's quiet acceptance of everything would be seriously lacking. The Weasleys were spunky by nature; the odd few who were not were rule-bound and strict. Chiharu was staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, making her feel rather alone.

"Cheer up, Zoë, everyone will still be here when we get back." Dante told her.

"Yeah, it's not like before." Zephari said quietly, "No one is going to vanish and Christmas with the Weasleys is always fun!"

"I wonder what new tricks Uncles Fred and George have created to test on us." Zoë said, cheering quickly.

The majority of the still school-bound Weasleys and Zoë proceeded to take over the majority of the train. The more raucous few – those whose parents were Fred and George Weasley – managed to keep the lot entertained throughout the long ride. Zoë cheered up steadily on the way back, soon anticipating their arrival along with the rest. It was not every Christmas that she got to spend with Dante and Zephari, who only came every three years or so.

When the train pulled in at King's Cross, Zoë could not help but follow the excited Weasleys to their waiting relatives in a rush. It was amusing to see how many of the Weasley children were still in school. Zoë found herself being pulled into a hug courtesy of Molly Weasley. She grinned and hugged her back.

"Well, let's get a move on, shall we?" Arthur Weasley called jovially, looking over the large group.

"How're we getting home?" Dante asked curiously.

"Granddad managed to get his hands on another Muggle car, and he enchanted this one too." Ralph whispered to the three first years.

"Grandmum forbade him to enchant it to fly, but he didn't listen." Ralph's twin, Scott, added, grinning.

"Of course, now he's got this whole spell on it so that only he can make it fly." Ralph said with a small frown.

"Pity, I say." Scott agreed.

Zoë giggled as they were led out to parking lot, various Muggles staring at the large amount of red-headed people. The car looked plain enough, a blue Ford Anglia, - "Same as the one he had before." Scott told them, - but it managed to fit all of the Weasley children inside it.

"What happened to the last one?" Zoë asked them.

"Uncles Ron and Harry hit the Whomping Willow with it in their second year." Ralph said casually, scooting over so there would be enough room for Spring, Summer, Fern and Willow in the backseat.

"Then it went off to live in the Forbidden Forest." Scott added, scooting over even more so that Alexis, Aleanor and Alexandre could pile in as well.

"Why didn't he just get a minivan?" Alexis grumbled as she closed the door beside her.

"Because he loved that car." Alexandre grunted from where he was shoved between Alexis and Aleanor.

"It's got a nifty spell on it, but it's not nearly big enough for the entire Weasley brood." Spring agreed.

Arthur, however, appeared to be deaf to all this and drove all the way back to The Burrow without hearing their criticism or ideas on how to improve or what to replace his car with. When they arrived home, the children spilled out eagerly, as if ejected by their seats.

"Happy Christmas!" Amanda cried eagerly, running out of the house in a large winter cloak and Alexis's old robes.

"Merry Christmas!" The others chimed in unison before filling up the house.

"Happy belated birthday, Mandy." Zoë said affectionately, giving her cousin a present.

"Too bad you're just a month off the cut-off date." Dante added sympathetically, ruffling her hair.

Amanda's face fell, but Zephari grinned and managed to cheer her up, "C'mon, you can show us all the decorations that have been put up." She urged.

The little girl beamed and ran off singing 'Bless Ye Merry Hippogriffs'.

* * *

The Burrow was like nowhere else at Christmas, except perhaps Hogwarts. Zephari stared around at the lavish decorations – never-melting ice sculptures, icicles hanging from shelves and banisters, wreaths and garlands of every colour dangling everywhere – which made it seem as if she were dreaming. She entered the kitchen to find it full of the older Weasleys and two she did not know.

"Ah, there they are!" Uncle Charlie said, standing up, "Zephari, come here for a moment, please? There're two people I want you to meet."

Zephari nodded and walked over, confused as to who these two people were. They looked vaguely familiar and fit in well with the Weasleys. One of them was taller than the other, with short brown hair, vivid brown eyes and a strong, square chin. The other was only a bit shorter, with short red hair, sharp blue eyes and a muscular build. They both had a small dusting of freckles across their noses, the first of which's was slightly larger than average.

"Zeph, these are your Uncles Harry and Albus."

She stared at them in shock. Her two real uncles had finally come to see her? The two crazed Aurors that were so involved with their work that they dared not come see her as she reminded them too much of her mother were sitting there, in front of her, within reach. They would feel no misgivings about speaking of her and, she knew, it would do them good to finally talk about their sister.

"Hullo." She said shyly, blushing slightly.

"Sorry it took us so long to come and see you, Zephari." Albus said calmly, reaching out a large hand for her to shake. "We've been... busy."

"You're here now." She said quietly, taking his hand and shaking it.

"So much like Athen... yet every bit of you is Lily." Harry mused quietly before extending his hand, "I don't see why we spent so long away."

Zephari smirked and hugged them both. She obviously surprised them with this, though Albus was pleased and hugged her back. Harry was slower to accept it and had a slightly pained look at first before returning her display of affection. She looked up at the two of them when they released her, knowing that she rarely looked at anyone with such an expression. She could not explain it... it seemed that family ties were stronger than absence or never meeting.

"I'm told you two are great Aurors." She said, staring up at one then the other. "I heard that you went after those who.... Who killed Mum." She said shakily, "I just wish you hadn't changed so much. She wouldn't have wanted you to spend the rest of your days ignoring family and chasing after Death Eaters."

They looked rather shocked, but she felt Charlie's approving gaze and took heart from that.

"How..." Harry faltered.

"I told you she was every bit like Lily at heart." Charlie said, amusedly.

Harry grimaced slightly, "It's uncanny." He admitted.

"Like having a girl Athen saying what Lily would." Albus added.

"I can act like Dad too." Zephari said stoutly, glaring at them and crossing her arms.

Her two uncles laughed.

"Indeed you can." Albus said with a small smile.

"Harry? Albus?" Elida's voice said incredulously from the other end of the kitchen.

"Who died?" Fern whispered, shocked.

"Nobody did." Harry scowled, "Or are we not allowed visiting The Burrow any-"

He was cut off by his sister barrelling straight into his chest and grabbing him a fierce hug. Albus laughed slightly at his stunned expression. "You can't expect them not to be shocked, Harry, you hole yourself up in your house all the time."

"And you don't?" Harry retorted as Elida released him to hug her eldest brother.

"Of course not, I hole myself up in my office." Albus replied easily, hugging her back.

"What made you two come out of hiding?" Elida asked, sitting down beside Harry.

"Let's just say we owed you all a visit." Albus said evasively, though Zephari noticed that he cut off Harry as he said this.

"A nice Christmas surprise." Charlie added, grinning at his two nephews.

"Ha! I knew Ryan would regret staying at Hogwarts for the holidays!" Thomas cried gleefully.

"Well, he's expected to stay at the school isn't he?" Zoë asked.

"To the contrary, no." Carly said impishly, "He just wanted to stay because he wanted to spend more time with Noelle."

"Noelle?" Harry asked, looking blank.

"Finnigan. She's a Prefect for Ravenclaw. They both decided to use that as an excuse to stay at Hogwarts, away from their siblings." Elida explained, trying to look innocent.

"Ryan's got a _girlfriend_?" Harry sounded incredulous.

Albus began to chuckle, though his brother remained oblivious to it. Zephari noticed the grins on her other uncles' and aunts' faces as they watched Harry turn a violent shade of magenta.

"He's too young to have a girlfriend!" Harry spluttered.

"He's fifteen, Harry." Albus pointed out mildly.

"So? He should wait until he's at least sixteen before having a girlfriend." Harry raged.

"What a difference." Albus rolled his eyes.

Molly smiled at the two, "Nice to have you back, boys." She told them fondly.

"Thanks, Grandmum." Albus said, smiling back at her while his brother ranted on.

"It's not right to be dating at that age!" Harry finished, slumping into his seat.

"If my memory doesn't fail me, you were the one that was caught kissing Shelly Bottlebrook behind a suit of armour in your fourth year." Albus informed him mildly. "I must say, it was a very odd thing to walk in on: my little brother kissing somebody like that..."

The kitchen filled with laughter as Harry flushed brightly. Albus was obviously amused and had a slightly haughty look as well. Zephari supposed that Harry was reminiscent of her Uncle Ron and that Albus was like her Aunt Hermione. She had never met them, but from the looks on the others' faces, she was right.

"I still say..." Harry trailed off.

"Hate to tell you, Harry, but your wisdom is tainted." Fred said brightly, having walked in just in time to hear his outburst.

"No matter how little women you've kissed since then." George added.

"Though I do remember Shelly as being quite a nice catch back then." Seamus mused, having followed the twins in.

"Too bad she ended up getting married to that ugly bloke." Albus sighed, patting his brother on the shoulder, "He hasn't been the same since."

"Who, the bloke or Harry?" Seamus asked, grinning.

"Both." Albus admitted. "The bloke's gotten uglier and Harry's gotten surlier."

"Women bring nothing but trouble." Fred finished, "Hello dear." He added, kissing his wife Angelina on the cheek.

"Indeed." George agreed, putting an arm around his wife Alicia's waist and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Yuck." Amanda muttered from behind Zephari, who had been watching the conversation raptly from the corner of the table.

"So, how's business you three?" Molly asked proudly.

"Well, we just launched the Garbling Gases and they've sold like fire." Seamus said happily as the twins were bombarded with children and wives, "It's amazing that the Skiving Snackboxes are still so popular and the Canary Creams' sales have just gone up again."

"My theory is that people like pulling pranks over the holidays as much as we do." Fred said amiably.

"Quite." George agreed, hugging Summer and Spring.

Angelina was glaring at them. "Don't you give the children any ideas." She said firmly.

"Too late." Ralph said with a smirk.

"We've got some new tricks this year." Scott added.

"You two had better not sneak anything into anybody's food this year." Their mother told them.

"Why not?" William, the eldest of hers and Fred's children asked innocently, "The last time they did we children spent a nice evening with our parents giggling madly whenever we said 'the'."

"We've managed to make more varieties of Giggling Goodies, actually." Ralph informed his brother brightly.

"Flavours ranging from chocolate to strawberry to vanilla." Scott explained, "As well as responding to the names of any utensils, plants or pronouns."

"Wonderful!" Fred said brightly, then saw his wife glaring at him, "I mean... boys, you had better not abuse your creativity and magically gifted brains."

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Not quite what I was expecting from you, Fred."

"Ah, well that's all for the better isn't it? I mean, it would be boring if I was predictable." Fred informed her.

Zephari giggled slightly. She liked spending time with the Weasleys. They were all crazy and fun; especially the numerous twins. Now that she had her two eldest _real_ uncles there, she could not be happier. She even joined in when William started singing a Muggle song called 'Celebrate'. She liked the chorus, which said 'Celebrate good times!' often. It suited her mood.


	12. Canaries and Sweaters

Christmas morning was set off with a definite bang, Dante thought, as she awoke to Molly screaming at Fred about something. She crawled across the bed the four youngest girls had been shoved into and opened the door to listen. It was always amusing when Grandmum shouted, she found, and usually it was because Uncle Fred had done something funny.

"HOW DARE YOU GIVE YOUR FATHER ONE OF THOSE DRATTED CREAMS?" She screamed, even though her uncle was probably mere inches away from her in the kitchen, "YOU CHANGE HIM BACK RIGHT NOW!"

There was a pause, during which Fred probably explained that he could not comply but that Arthur would return to normal within ten minutes.

"TEN MINUTES? HE'S SUPPOSED TO STAY LIKE THIS FOR TEN MINUTES? I SWEAR, FRED WEASLEY, IF YOU WEREN'T MY SON I WOULD THROW YOU OUT OF THIS HOUSE!" She ranted.

However, there was a loud squawk followed by laughter from two males. Dante quickly shut the door as her Grandmum stomped up the stairs. They had been at The Burrow for a week and at least one prank was played every day. When it was not Fred or George, it was Ralph and Scott or Alexis and Alexandre. Dante, Zephari and Zoë had played their part as well, sneaking some Gibbering Goblets onto the table the night before.

Dante giggled at the memory of Harry's cup suddenly announcing that it wanted to run off and join the rabbits in Antarctica. Arthur's had even declared that the penguins in Mongolia had better manners than him. It had been very entertaining. Not to mention that it had been Fred and George's new product's first test. Obviously, the goblets had passed with flying colours.

"Hey, Zoë, Zephari, Amanda," She whispered, prodding them in turn, "Wake up, it's Christmas!"

As if she had flipped a switch with the last word, Zoë's eyes flew open. "Christmas?" She asked Dante, who nodded, "Hey! Wake up you two! It's _Christmas_!" She cried joyfully, pouncing Zephari.

Zephari hissed and threw her off onto Amanda, though she was grinning, "I know that, you great lout, I was just listening to Grandmum's amazing vocal skills."

Dante sniggered, "Uncle Fred's done it this time, hasn't he?"

"Just like every year." Zoë said offhandedly, "C'mon, we've got presents to open!"

Dante grinned and joined the other three in crawling to the edge of the bed and reaching for their presents – which, as always, were in neat piles – which they opened one by one.

"Wow! Thanks, Zeph!" Dante said happily as she unwrapped _Hogwarts: A History_.

"You're welcome." Zephari replied, holding her unwrapped present in her hands, "It's a new edition, so it's updated to have recent events included."

"Ooh, thanks Dante!" Zoë squealed, opening a present to reveal a pink toque with a golden lion on the front.

Zephari had finally opened Dante's present to her, which was a photo album. She opened it and stared, "Dawn... How?" She asked, looking up and gaping.

"I asked around. Everyone was happy to contribute." She replied, blushing slightly. "There're pictures of everyone there: Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, your dad, your mum, all the cousins, a bunch of school friends. Basically all the pictures that everyone had and could make themselves give up."

Zoë had missed this exchange as she ripped open the present Zephari had given her. "Wow, neat!" She said brightly, holding up the pink collar with a bell in the shape of a lion. "Harry'll love it!"

Dante carefully opened Zoë's present. _A Collection of Werewolf Accounts_, the book was called. She beamed proudly. She adored werewolves, she found them intriguing, and Zoë knew that which was obviously why she had given Dante a book about them. She grinned, "Thanks Zoë!" She said brightly.

Amanda finally opened the present from the three of them. "Wow!" She squealed, playing with the small figurine of a lion. "Thanks you three!"

Zoë smiled, "Took the better part of first term to get it work." She admitted, "It roars if it's ignored for a month, and purrs when you stroke it."

Amanda had gotten them all one present to share. It turned out to be a copy of the huge extended Weasley family picture they had down in the living room, taken a year before the war. Dante looked down at all the happy faces in it, knowing that had known then that danger was upon them. She did not feel sad that they smiled from the picture as if there was nothing to worry about. Instead, it made her happy that they had been happy.

Zephari touched the faces of her parents hesitantly with a small smile. "Thanks Mandy." She said truthfully and – to everyone's surprise – she hugged the youngest girl.

Zoë looked down into the face of her father, smiling as he held a baby Chiharu. Dante noticed that she looked sad and realized that she probably felt betrayed and jealous. "We can put it up on the dorm wall." Zoë said, tearing her eyes away from it, "That way they can watch us as we sleep, keeping us safe."

The silence stretched on endlessly with the four of them looking at the picture. Amanda was looking into the smiling face of Remus Lupin and his wife, Arabella Figg, as they held their son, Bartholemu, in a hug. He had been killed right before graduating from Hogwarts, for being the son of a werewolf and an outspoken activist against Voldemort's remaining supporters.

Dante finally cleared her throat, "Look, Grandmum's given us all sweaters." She said brightly, pointing at the lumpy packages.

"How she manages to knit one for every cousin and every uncle and aunt _and_ for everyone in the extended family, I don't know." Zoë mused as she picked up hers.

Amanda grinned, "She uses magic to knit. She used to only knit one at a time, now she knits about five."

Dante opened hers to show a midnight blue sweater with a gold D in the upper left. Zoë's was black with a pink Z on the back while Zephari's was also black with silver Zs on the shoulders. Amanda's was a deep green with an A in gold in the upper left, like Dante's. Without a word, the four girls pulled them on and then continued to open the rest of their presents which were mostly candy.

Zephari watched her cousins open their presents gleefully before quietly ripping open the one from Sirius. She felt rather silly for not wanting them to notice, but she liked her privacy. His present was a small dragon figurine. It was blood red and she identified it as a Chinese Fireball. She smiled and stroked its neck, making it lean into her caresses. She adored enchanted dragon figurines.

A letter sat in her lap amongst the wrapping.

_Dearest Zeph,_

_Sorry Father and I have been so late in getting there for Christmas. He had a few things to tie up at school so he could leave for the holidays. As such, I've been stuck with my mother's family. Most irritating group of people, I must say. I met my sister, Veronica, the other day. She hates me and I know it. I hate her and she knows it. We're just one big happy family here in the Parkinson mansion._

_Did I mention how dark and dingy this place is? One would think I'm used to it, what with going to Durmstrang and all, but these people could lighten up a bit; especially around Christmas._

_Going by what you've said, I'd consider the Slytherins a cheery lot after being with these trolls for a week. I swear they've never had any real fun in their lives. They also appear to blame me for my mother being locked up in Azkaban. Honestly, it's not my fault she went and joined Voldemort. They also blame father. I guess that's why Kai likes them so much._

_Anyway, Father told me that we shall be dropping by – and by this he means 'invading with our constant scowls, nocturnal habits and crankiness' – later this afternoon. Pity that Dethol-fellow is stuck at Hogwarts with his various beasties over Christmas. Probably for the best, anyways, as they might escape and wreak havoc on the unsuspecting students and staff if he left. Do you suppose they hibernate during the summer, which allows him to leave then?_

_With hopes of seeing you later,_

_Sirius_

Zephari grinned as she finished reading it. Sirius had a funny way with words. He always managed to make her smile when he wrote. She supposed that was why he was such a close friend of hers with the very little time she had known him. However, she quickly wiped the grin from her face and carefully placed her little figurine on the shelf across from the bed.

"Wow, Zeph, who sent you that?" Zoë asked, watching her.

"Sirius." She replied with a smile, "Draco had a few loose ends to tie up at school, but they'll be arriving today."

"Wonderful." Zoë muttered.

Zephari smirked and got up, changing out of her pyjamas and into a nice pair of trousers, a shirt and her robes. She paused for a moment, then pulled her Weasley sweater on over the thin shirt. She turned to face the others. "Up for breakfast?" She asked casually.

* * *

Sirius stood with a bag, full of his clothes and most personal belongings – along with the enchanted cobra figurine that Zephari had sent him –, beside him in the entrance hall of the Parkinson mansion. His grandparents were talking amongst themselves behind him, as if he could not hear their non-whispering voices.

"Draco's late. _Again_." His grandmother snapped at her husband.

"He's always late, dear." His grandfather sighed, "Unlike his parents. No, Lucius and Narcissa raised him as a good boy."

"A shame he went so wrong in the end." His grandmother agreed.

"At least he's not locked up in Azkaban." Sirius sneered, turning to glare at them, his fists clenched.

"What did you say, boy?" His grandfather demanded.

"I said: At least he's not locked up in Azkaban." Sirius repeated, sneering all the while.

"How dare you!" His grandmother screeched, lunging at him.

"I'm terribly sorry, but you'll have to keep your hands from my son." Draco said coldly, stepping between them, "You ready, Sirius?"

He nodded. "Yes, Father." He said, smirking at the Parkinson duo from behind his father's back.

"He is not welcome here anymore!" His grandmother announced, "I do not want that... that _scum_ in my household ever again!"

"Very well." Draco snapped, "I was reluctant to bring him here in the first place."

With that, he placed a hand on Sirius's shoulder and they were gone.

With a flash, they reappeared in the Weasley kitchen.

"Ah, there you are Draco!" Molly Weasley said happily as they reappeared.

Sirius felt rather disoriented. His father had never Disapparated with him before. It was a nauseating experience. He supposed it was not so when one knew where they were going and did so themselves. He would have staggered, has his father's hand not been tightly gripping his shoulder.

"Hello Molly, sorry for the delay," He said smoothly.

"Kai has decided not to come this time?" Arthur asked, sounding sympathetic.

"No, I fear he's decided he likes his maternal grandparents too much." The blonde man informed him, taking off his cloak.

"Ah, Draco Malfoy... We meet again." A quiet voice said from behind them.

Sirius whirled to see a complete stranger looking evenly at his father. He then noticed the other stranger, right behind the first. He did not like the way the second one was glaring. His father had never done anything wrong, except perhaps marry Pansy Parkinson, so why were these two Weasleys attacking him so?

"Albus Weasley... And Harry Weasley, as well," Draco replied, nodding curtly, "You look well."

"Same to you," Albus replied, extending a hand, "I believe I never had the chance to thank you for what you did."

Draco took the hand and shook it, "No need, it was simple courtesy. Besides, I owe the Weasleys more than I would like to admit."

Sirius stared between them in confusion. His father and this man were old acquaintances, but why was the other one still glaring like one would at a particularly vile food?

"Malfoy." The other said sharply, nodding.

"Weasley." Draco replied, doing the same.

"Who's stuck a wand up _his_ arse?" Sirius whispered to his father, who looked sternly at him in a 'don't let me hear you say that again' way.

"Sirius!"

Sirius turned in time to be fiercely hugged by Zephari. He, awkwardly, hugged her back and she released him before he got too uncomfortable. She had not changed much in the past few months, he observed, though she _was_ slightly happier now that she was not worrying about getting sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Nice to see you." He greeted, smiling lightly.

"And you. Merry Christmas and thanks for the gift." She replied, tugging on his sleeve and dragging him out of the room.

"You too." He answered as she dragged him into the living room, "What's up?"

"All the adults were staring at us. Those two who were talking to your dad are my uncles. My real uncles, mind you." She informed him.

"Ah, no wonder I had never seen them before. The Auror uncles?" She nodded, "Albus seems rather nice, though Harry looks like he's got a wand up his arse."

She grinned, "He's just like that. He's a tad overprotective and I suppose Uncle Charlie told him that we were friends."

"Well that explains it." He answered.

* * *

Ginny could not help but smile kindly at Draco. She could never get used to the fact that they were now co-workers at Hogwarts. She had spent most of her school days hexing him whenever she got the chance and now she worked with him in not only a courteous, but comradely, manner on a daily basis. Seeing him standing in the kitchen of her childhood home only intensified how odd it was to see such a dark, proud and sinister person and not be trying to harm him.

"_Gin_," Michael said forcefully and she looked at him in surprise.

"Sorry, I was thinking." She said evasively.

"You seem to think a lot whenever Draco Malfoy is over." He muttered irritably.

"Jealous?" She teased, then instantly regretted it, "Sorry, Mike... I didn't-" But it was too late, as he had already stalked off to talk to Cho.

Ginny sighed and looked down at the tabletop. She was a married woman and far too old to be rethinking her school-girl crush. She was with Michael, after all, and she loved him. But lately their marriage had not been doing too good, and she knew it. He knew it as well, as he kept avoiding her and being waspish. Vaguely, she wondered why she had chosen him after going out with other boys she had liked more.

"Hello, weasel." Draco greeted in a whisper, sitting beside her, "Deep in thought, are we?"

"Hello, ferret." She said in return, looking past him at her husband.

"Ah, I see now. Relationship troubles," He mused, following her gaze, "It's funny. You broke up with him back when you were fourteen, but you went back to him. If it didn't work then, what means it'll work now?"

"It's worked for over fifteen years." Ginny informed him.

"Which is more than I can say for any of my relationships," He agreed, looking back at her and drawing her gaze.

"What? Not having enough one-night stands to please yourself?" She snapped.

"Those were Auror missions, hellcat." He muttered crossly, "You know that, so don't get false ideas."

Ginny felt rather abashed. It was true, they had been Auror missions. They had, of course, led to more than he had bargained. He had even married Pansy Parkinson due to an Auror mission. She pitied him for that, though she did not dare show it. He would never forgive her if she did. The tentative friendship they had formed over the last six or so years would crumble if she so much as whispered of her pity.

"I wasn't." She told him, "I'm just..." She trailed off, gesturing helplessly.

"Frustrated." He drawled slowly, "Yes, I realized that."

"So, Sirius won't be able to return to his grandparents' anymore, will he?" She asked, changing the subject and trying to distract herself from how much Draco Malfoy appealed to her at the moment.

"No, they threw him out when he insulted Pansy." Draco said brightly, for him anyways. "So he'll have to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays."

"Or come here." Ginny pointed out.

"Either way, he'll be happier. He never liked those cranky old moles, anyways." The blonde man replied, leaning back in his chair.

"And Zephari will be rather pleased as well." Ginny said with a smirk.

"Yes, that too," He agreed, "Which is rather ironic, yet not; her being a Black-Weasley cross and all."

"And your mother was once a Black." Ginny added quietly.

"You know the truth, then?" Draco whispered.

She nodded, "It's best to remain unknown to most." She told him, "So don't say it here."

"I'll tell him when he's sixteen." He added just as quietly, "And I'll let him know what happened to his brother, so he'll be smart enough to keep the name of Malfoy."

She smiled at him, "Good to have you around without professor-ly formality, Malfoy." She said warmly.

He smirked, "Same to you, Weasley." He answered, and she did not even bother to correct him.


	13. It Never Ends

Draco Malfoy stalked down the dark, dank corridors of Azkaban. Being an ex-Auror gave him a healthy amount of privileges such as visiting the inmates. He was on a self-assigned mission this time; which was why he walked right up to the bars of one Death Eater's damp cell and glared into the gloom.

She was barely visible against the dirty stone walls, a mere lump of shadow that would have been indiscernible had he not expected her to look that way. Her pug-like face was drawn up in a sneer as she stood up to face him, her once-plump body now thin and her features sunken like so many other prisoners'. Gone was the glory she had once held back when they were at Hogwarts. Gone was the woman he had been half-expected to marry when they graduated. Now she was nothing more than a wretched wraith, standing so pompously before him.

"Draco," She said acidly, glaring at him.

"Pansy," He sneered.

They looked at each other without speaking for many more moments. Draco could not help but be somewhat pleased that Azkaban had not agreed with her. He also could not but feel rather triumphant that he was responsible for her demise; hers and many others, due to her foolish mouth. He had learned the names of countless Death Eaters during the five years he had been married to her, due to an Auror operation. All of those people were now in cells or in graves.

"I thought you said you would never come back." She snarled.

"I wouldn't have, if I had not met my daughter at Hogwarts this year." Draco growled. "How was I not informed?"

"She was born in Azkaban, after our divorce." Pansy informed him with a smirk, "Thus, you were never her legal guardian."

"She's as much my daughter as she is yours!" He snapped.

"She looks more like me than she does like you." She replied in kind, "Or do you want to take all my children and convert them?"

"I only show them reason, now that the war has ended. There is nothing left for those who supported Voldemort." He growled.

"Ah, so you dare to speak his name now." She said smoothly, though he had seen her twitch when he spoke.

"I refuse to fear what will never return."

"Ah, but you fear someone that is still out there, don't you?" Pansy cackled, "Your dear father, Lucius, is still out there and escaping the Ministry, along with so many others."

Draco whipped out his wand and pointed it at her, breathing heavily.

She laughed, "Poor little Draco, still unable to swallow his pride and admit that his father is the best wizard there is."

"There are better wizards." He breathed, trying to murder her with his gaze.

"Are there? With Potter and Granger gone, I would think there is nobody left to stand against him." Pansy sneered.

"You forget the Weasleys and Potter's children. They are more powerful than any adults." He hissed.

"Yes, you would think that wouldn't you?" She taunted.

He turned away from her, pocketing his wand, "Just you wait, Pansy. He will be caught and then what will those that remain do? What will they think? They'll come crawling to our feet, leaderless and defeated. They will finally admit that it has ended."

"Oh no, Draco," She whispered as he walked off, "It never ends."

* * *

Zoë looked at Dante with pure disgust. "Look at her, being all... all _friendly_ with a _boy_!" She winced as if it caused her pain to witness such, "It's just not right."

"You're friends with Abe, Nate, Liam, Xander and James." Dante pointed out, though Zoë knew it was just because she felt like standing up for Zephari.

"But I don't go around hugging them and giving them presents!" Zoë retorted, glaring at Zephari and Sirius, who were talking animatedly in the living room.

"You would if you trusted them." Dante said evilly.

Zoë rolled her eyes, "But I don't trust them so I don't hug them. So your argument is useless."

"Too true," Dante agreed, "Come on; let's go see if Grandmum needs help preparing the feast."

Zoë nodded and followed her friend down the stairs and to the kitchen. As soon as they entered, she noticed two men that she had never seen before. She knew them from pictures, however; Albus and Harry Weasley, Zephari's real uncles. She stared at them until Dante grabbed her sleeve and dragged her over to where her grandmother was bustling about the kitchen.

"Need some help, Grandmum?" Dante asked sweetly, looking adoringly up at her.

Molly Weasley smiled down at the two of them, "No, everything is fine here, dears." She assured them, "Why don't you two go play outside with the other children? We had a good snowfall last night."

Zoë beamed at Dante. "Great! C'mon, let's get our cloaks and mitts! And scarves and hats!"

Dante grinned and followed her back up the stairs. Zoë pulled on all her warmer gear before bouncing down the stairs. She nearly hit a rather snowy Amanda on her way down.

"Oomph! I was just coming to get you two! Snowball fight, girls versus boys, in the backyard." The littlest Weasley said eagerly.

Zoë smirked. "The boys won't know what hit them!" She announced.

"Strange, that there's only two more boys than girls in our generation." Dante observed.

"Must be the genes from other families," The Potter girl said dismissively, bounding down the stairs with Amanda and Dante in tow.

They had a furious battle in the snow, even joined by Zephari and Sirius halfway. Despite the boost to their team, the girls lost in the end when the boys swarmed over their protective battlements and tackled them all to the ground. In such a situation, it was obvious that they had to surrender. So, Willow announced their surrender as none of the other 'junior hellcats', as Draco Malfoy dubbed them, would admit defeat.

* * *

Zephari shoved Sirius off of her when their surrender had been accepted. He was sneering. She decided his ego needed deflating. Thus, she took a handful of snow and shoved it right in his superior face.

"Argh!" He cried, falling backwards as she pinned him to the ground.

Zoë and Dante giggled slightly, watching but not helping him. In fact, all the Weasleys were amused and no one thought to rescue the helpless Malfoy. Zephari released him and stepped deftly out of reach before he shoved the snow from his reddened face.

"I'll get you, Black." He mock-challenged as he picked up another handful of snow, "Yeah, you had _better_ run!"

Zephari smirked, "Not like you could get me if you tried, _Malfoy_," She replied, still staying out of reach, "Your aim's worse than the Slytherin Seeker's, and that's saying something."

He threw the snowball at her and it hit her full in the face. He sneered again, "What were you saying about my aim?" He asked casually.

Another snowball hit him right on the nose, "That it sucks." She shouted.

"Bloody hell, Weasley," He muttered, wiping the snow off his face and chasing after her.

Zephari saw Zoë raise an eyebrow at Dante. "Regular foul-mouthed little ferret, isn't he?" She asked loudly. "Guess he finds it easier to mutter obscenities against a Weasley than against a Black."

"Bet Professor Malfoy wouldn't like to hear him say that." Dante agreed, grinning.

Zephari dove into a snow bank to avoid his next projectile. She gasped at the cold but snuggled in farther, trying to make herself vanish. She obviously failed, as Sirius grabbed her by the foot and pulled her out of the snow bank. She stared at him as he smirked.

"Gotcha." He informed her, dropping her leg.

Zephari was about to make a witty retort, but Molly's call of 'Supper's ready, come wash up now dears!' distracted them all. Sirius helped her to her feet and they walked back to The Burrow side by side. He took her cloak, acting every bit the gentleman he was supposed to be, as they took off their winter things so they could dry by the fireplace.

They sat at the table together, Zoë, Dante and Amanda across from them. The adults were at the other end of the table, so that left the children to their own devices for serving themselves and making conversation.

"So, Sirius, what's it like up in the land of ice and snow?" Aleanor asked courteously, her fork buried in her mashed potatoes.

"Cold, with lots of ice and snow," Sirius replied evenly, smirking slightly, "Durmstrang's rather obsessed with the Dark Arts and everyone there is rather cranky. I had to learn Bulgarian to understand my year-mates, though I kind of which I hadn't so I wouldn't understand what they say to each other. A rather... open... bunch of people, Bulgarians."

"So they actually teach you the Dark Arts?" Alexis demanded, sounding untrusting.

"Well, they start off with hexes and jinxes, but by your last years you know as many hexes as a grown dark wizard or witch." He admitted.

"I knew they were loony." Alexis muttered, taking a bite of turkey.

"I wonder what Beauxbatons is like." Zoë said suddenly, "I mean, they have to be different from Hogwarts and Durmstrang, no?"

"From what I've heard about the Triwizard Tournament thirty-five years ago, they don't seem to be as unified as Hogwarts." Alexandre informed them, "Maman says that all those who were not chosen as champion were rather put-out and some even started crying. They're an elegant group, though."

"Say, Alex, are you visiting France again this year?" Leif asked curiously.

"Probably, Tante Gabrielle has been badgering us about visiting again." He sounded somewhat bored with the notion, "I think Dad wants her to come here for once. Gabrielle's daughter might start to work for the Ministry, so it would be a good idea for her to try to learn a bit more about England beforehand."

"I don't see why so many people want to join the Ministry nowadays." Felix announced, "It must be pretty boring to be anything but an Auror, and those will soon be out of work when the last few Death Eaters are caught."

"Actually, Felix, working at the Ministry is a very good thing," Aleanor began pompously.

"Good God, you've got her started now, Felix. Soon enough she'll have you thinking that reporting too-thin cauldron manufacturers is a noble thing to do." Alexis muttered sourly.

"I'm simply saying that he shouldn't dismiss that range of careers so lightly!" Aleanor snapped.

"Bloody Ravenclaw; why does my twin have to be such a know-it-all?" The youngest of the pair muttered fervently.

"At least one of us has to have a sense of purpose." The elder growled, looking away and stabbing viciously at her food.

"Are you two going back to Romania this summer?" Zoë asked plaintively, drawing their attention away from the arguing twins.

"Yeah," Zephari answered, thinking slightly longingly of the reserve, "Everyone goes to their real home for a bit during the summer holidays, no? Even Uncle Harry did, and he hated it there."

Zoë looked a bit hurt at the reference to her father. "Well, hopefully we'll see each other before the train-ride back." She said sharply, making Zephari feel rather guilty.

"Ugh, I'll have to be Sorted when I get there won't I?" Sirius muttered after overhearing Felix and Leif talking about the Sorting Hat's song.

"Of course, but you'll probably be Sorted first as you're older and all." Dante informed him.

"I don't see the point of the formality, as he's obviously a Slytherin." Zoë said acidly, still obviously hurt.

Zephari sighed and ate the food that was on her plate dejectedly. Why did she and Zoë always get into fights when parents were involved? It was not as if Zephari was _happy_ that her mother had died before her dad did. And she certainly was not happy that Zoë's dad had died either. Why did Zoë have to be such a selfish brat at times? She fumed silently until she finished her meal, then tuned back into the conversation.

"Well, my brother Chance works as a dragon researcher, my sister Wynifred works as an Auror and my other brother Seamus works at our uncles' joke shop," Dante was saying, "But I don't want to do any of that. I want to be an author, maybe write a few Defence Against the Dark Arts books or other such useful things."

Zoë still looked like she had sat on a nail, but she answered – as somebody had obviously asked a question to provoke their revelations – as well, "Dad was an Auror and Mum works for the Ministry, in the Transportation area," She said curtly, "But I'm going to be an Auror."

Sirius nodded, "From what Zeph has told me, you two could probably succeed in those goals."

Both girls looked at Zephari, who blushed, but they both played along as if they had known about their correspondence. Dante smiled and blushed slightly, while Zoë nodded curtly.

"What about you, Zeph?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Mum and Dad were both Aurors and so are Uncles Harry and Albus," She said simply, "But I think that by the time we graduate, the few dark wizards and witches left out there will have been caught. I want to do something with magical creatures, though being a Cursebreaker would be neat too. I'm keeping my options open, really."

He nodded. "Well, my dad was an Auror, as you all know, and my mum... Well, she was a Death Eater pretending to work for the Ministry. I suppose I could be an Auror, but that would be rather dreary and repetitive. To be honest, teaching wouldn't be that bad." He said truthfully.

Zoë was visibly grinding her teeth in an effort to remain polite, "Why are we thinking about this now anyways? We can wait 'til at least third year, when we have a choice about our classes. Besides, we get careers advice in fifth year." She snapped waspishly before going back to her pudding.

Zephari grit her teeth so as to force back her reply. Instead, she ate her pudding as well. When that was done, the large group of Weasleys moved to the living room. The children were left to do as they pleased. Sirius was dragged into a game of wizard's chess versus Alexandre, who was determined to beat him and show how much better Weasleys were and that Malfoys were full of hot air.

Zephari seized the opportunity and grabbed her two best friends' arms. "C'mon." She hissed and dragged them up the stairs to their room.

Zoë whirled on her as soon as the door was closed, "You _write_ to him?" She screeched, "You send him weekly letters and you mention us? I thought you were better than that! I thought boys didn't matter to you! I thought _we_ were your best friends!"

Zephari was rather taken aback by the explosion and realized that Zoë had inherited both her parents' fiery tempers, which were infamous in the Weasley household. She ground her teeth together and let her angry words pass by without paying attention to them. Zoë was just angry, she told herself. She had to let her anger run its course or the final outcome would be even worse.

"Why didn't you tell us, Zeph?" Dante asked quietly as Zoë panted for air at the end of her tirade.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd react like this." Zephari growled, "And I was right, wasn't I? You would have exploded in the Great Hall if you knew that half the time you thought Athen was bringing me letters, it was Sirius's Alba. So I kept it a secret."

"Why?" Zoë spluttered, unable to form any other coherent word.

"Why did we write to each other, you mean?" Zephari asked nonchalantly and continued at her cousin's nod, "We have a lot in common. We understand each other. Now, I'm not saying we three don't. I don't tell him everything, but there are some things that you two can't relate to that he can."

"So you talk to him about things only another stuck-up Slytherin git would understand?" Zoë snapped.

"Well... yes." Zephari answered truthfully.

"Ha! So you- Wait. Yes? You agree?" Zoë faltered.

Zephari nodded, "I talk to him about things only another person raised by a pureblood as a pureblood could understand. He talks to me about the same things, because he obviously can't talk to his brother about it now can he?"

Zoë was at a loss for words. Dante took up the slack, "We still would've liked you to tell us, Zeph." She said calmly.

"And I would have, I definitely never intended for him to tell you before I did. I was planning to tell you today, but it slipped my mind." Zephari admitted sheepishly.

Zoë sighed in exasperation, "Well, now that we've admitted that a pureblood's mind is as slippery as a certain few's hair is with all that grease and oil in it, can we get back to Christmas cheer?"

Zephari laughed, "Nice to have you stop acting like you have a wand up your arse, Zoë."

"If anyone heard you say that, Zeph..." Dante warned.

"Honestly, Dawn, your mum has the foulest mouth out of the adult Weasleys and purebloods are notorious for their bad-mouthing." Zephari chided, "You should know that by now."


	14. Magic Fading

Much to Sirius's dismay, the rest of the holidays faded into an indistinct blur of happiness and, before he knew it, the others had to return to Hogwarts and he had to return to Durmstrang. It seemed as if, with that thought, his happiness faded like a wisp of smoke or the spark of magic in a wizard when he died. The last analogy was not made out of experience, he reminded himself, but due to his darker nature and teachings. He was certain one of his professors had used it at one point.

"Well, see you in five months." He drawled, trying to hide his heavy heart, as he faced Zephari, Zoë and Dante on the front steps of The Burrow on their parting day.

"Cheer up, Sirius, it'll fly by." Dante said with a devilish smirk.

"Yeah, I'm sure that if you just keep your chin up, you'll barely notice how cold, boring and damp it is up there." Zoë smirked.

Zephari rolled her eyes, "Ignore them, they're just happy to be going back to see _Liam_ and _Nathaniel_."

"Am not!" Zoë cried.

"Liar!" Dante accused at the same time.

"Send me a letter as soon as something interesting happens." Sirius told her, smirking at the other two.

"I will, and do cheer up a bit. It's your last five months in that ice cube, after all." She replied, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"Alright, dears, into the car or you'll be late!" Molly Weasley called.

Sirius watched the three girls run back to the car with happiness in every step. He sighed slightly and crossed his arms. He was not jealous and he was _definitely_ not pouting. Malfoys were neither jealous nor did they pout. He was simply... _disappointed_, yes. He was disappointed that he could not join them in roaming about their castle of school as he had to return to the damp dungeons that was his.

"All set, Sirius?" Draco asked with a patronizing hand on his shoulder.

"Why do I have to go to Durmstrang anyways, Father? Kai didn't have to, and he's decidedly more interested in the Dark Arts than I am." He demanded, still refusing to admit that he was pouting or being plaintive.

"Because it builds character," His father said dismissively as the Ford Anglia drove away, "Besides, you only have another five months there."

"Five months in a frozen hell." Sirius muttered.

"Language, Sirius," His father warned.

"You use the same foul language I do. Where do you think I learned it?" He replied without thinking.

Draco Malfoy's eyes narrowed, "That is not the matter at hand. You will behave properly and not use foul language in the presence of our host."

"She's back inside already and has only heard one sentence of this conversation." Sirius replied pertly, "And, yes, Father, I am ready."

"Miss Black, please try to pay attention." Professor Corner called.

Zephari looked away from the feather she was supposed to be levitating. "I am, Professor." She said truthfully.

"Then prove it, please." She was told sternly.

Zephari cringed at her Aunt's tone. "Professor, I don't know how else to explain it, but it feels as if the magic is..." She faltered, and gestured helplessly, her wand in her hands. "Well, _fading_."

"Careful, Miss Black!" She was warned.

However, her careless wand waving had no effect whatsoever when she had been known to light things on fire in previous instances. The entire class had fallen silent and everyone's attention was on the Professor and one of the usually brightest students in their class. Zephari noticed that not even one feather had been levitating.

"Could _anyone_ manage to perform _wingardium leviosa_?" She demanded, sounding surprised.

Everyone shook their heads in unison and she looked properly shocked. She ran a hand through her red hair, forgetting that she was wearing her hat which toppled off her head. Zephari winced. This meant that she was worried, _very_ worried.

"Please remain here, class, I will return soon." She said distractedly before hurrying out of the room.

* * *

Ginevra Weasley-Corner was extremely worried. She went to the stone gargoyle at the entrance to the Headmaster's office. "Parodying Parchment," She told it and it jumped aside.

Usually she made a wry comment to herself about Bill's choice of passwords. At the moment, however, she was more preoccupied with the fact that her first year students could not perform a spell they had mastered long before Halloween. She reached the top of the stairs and knocked.

"Come in." Her brother's voice called.

Ginny walked in and went up to his desk.

"Hello Ginny," He said in surprise, though she cut him off.

"Something's not right." She said firmly.

"Oh?" He asked, his attention riveting fully on her.

"You know that the Gryffindor first-years mastered the Levitating Charm before Halloween, correct?" She paused long enough for him to nod, "Today, not one of them could perform it."

Bill stood up, surprising her with his sudden movement, "They _could_ not perform it?" He repeated.

"Yes. Zephari described it as the magic was fading." Ginny said sharply.

Bill did not respond, simply stared at her for a moment.

"Bill?" She prompted.

"Go back and dismiss your class, then go to the staff room. I will summon the others." He ordered.

Ginny nodded and ran down the rotating steps two at a time. She slowed once past the gargoyle, _Slow down, Ginny, don't cause a scene. Don't make anybody who sees you notice something is wrong. Don't panic, we'll figure this out._ She ranted at herself.

She swept back into her classroom in a flurry of grey-green robes. "Class dismissed, you are to go back up to your dormitories immediately." She ordered sharply.

The first-years stared at her, stunned.

"I said _return to your dormitories_, now _move_ it!" She breathed, almost in a snarl.

They broke into a flurry of movement as they put away their wands and scurried out of the room as fast as possible. None of them dared chance their Head of House's wrath.

"But, Ginny... What's going on?" Dante asked, pausing on the threshold with Zoë and Zephari.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out. Now, up to your dormitories; if you're found out of them, the consequences will be severe." Ginny warned and they hustled to obey.

Looking around the room one last time, she turned on her heel and left, whispering a locking charm as she went. She went straight to the staff room, meeting up with Snape and Malfoy outside the door. Dethol arrived moments later, his strides impossibly lengthy and quick to have brought him from out on the grounds to the staff room in the same time as it took for Ginny to dismiss her class. They went through the doors, first to arrive.

"It appears that being the professors most feared by the student populace gave us an advantage." Draco commented wryly.

Seamus and Hannah arrived almost simultaneously. Close behind them were Arthur Stapleton, Charles Astley and Hugo Pillings, teachers of Arithmacy, Muggle Studies and Study of Ancient Runes respectively. Bill Weasley himself entered the room, nodding at all of them as Oliver Wood followed him.

"Luro and Lavender will be down in a few moments. I will wait for them to get here, as Luro is not a Seer and must hear what I have to say." He informed them.

Snape looked rather irritated, "Could you at least tell us what the problem is?" He demanded.

Ginny realized with a start that the majority of the other professors did not teach subjects that involved direct magical use. "My first-year Gryffindors could not perform the simple Levitating Charm that they had mastered long before Halloween." She informed them, "One of them went so far as to describe it as the magic was fading."

"Which one said this?" Arthur Stapleton demanded.

"Zephari Black," Lavender's voice answered from the doorway, where she and an apparently sleep-walking Luro Vega had appeared after their long descent from their tower domains.

"Yes, she _would_ be one to notice, now wouldn't she?" Hugo Pillings murmured.

"Oh?" Charles Astley asked.

"Well, her parents were both extremely magically potent." Hugo told his co-worker, "You remember Athen Black and Lily Weasley, don't you?"

"Lily, I remember. Brilliant student, had a great interest in Muggles, like her grandfather Arthur Weasley..." Charles mused, "And... Ah, yes, Athen was the student most opposed to my class and took it into his hands to remind me just how useless it was to try and co-operate with Muggles every time we passed each other in the corridors."

"Yes, well, she's right." Bill Weasley announced sharply.

"What?" A few demanded, though Ginny had never doubted Zephari's judgement.

"The simple spells are taking more effort than usual." He told them, "The difficult ones even more. Go ahead; try one of the more complex – yet harmless – spells that you know."

They did as he bid them, Ginny taking out her wand and trying a Patronus Charm. She raised an eyebrow; it did not work the first time. She tried again with a bit more concentration and succeeded. Everyone else fared the same, a few choosing the Patronus Charm like she did.

"How can this be?" Dethol demanded as his dragon patronus loomed over him, hissing at everyone close to him.

"Severus, Draco?" Ginny asked, turning to them, as they knew more about the Dark Arts than the others.

"It is possible that Lucius has concocted a potion to hamper the magical abilities of those at Hogwarts." Snape said slowly.

"Or it could be more than that," Draco added in the same manner, "It could be a magical unbalance in the world, due to the loss of so many powerful wizards and witches not too long ago."

"Or both," Lavender said suddenly.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"How can that be?" Hugo demanded.

"Lately, we have not noticed any change in _our_ magical ability." Lavender explained quietly, "By lately, I mean since the war. However, the magical energy from those who died had to go _somewhere_."

"You're not suggesting it went into the blood relatives?" Ginny asked, staring.

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting, Ginny." Lavender said evenly.

"But then there would have been some effect on those of you who had relatives who died, no?" Dethol asked, then paused, "But only if you were the last living relatives... The magic would take the easiest host possible and, therefore, the youngest so that it would not harm them."

"The _children_?" Arthur, Charles and Hugo chorused.

Ginny found that it made sense, "And those with more magically potent parents or relatives would have the larger magical ability and, therefore, be more powerful."

"The magic would have evenly dissipated into as many people as possible, though more into the youngest. This year of students are to be the most powerful, I believe." Lavender continued,

Dethol had caught on, "But Lucius, after seeing this, would have decided to act upon it and make us believe that they are not so powerful."

"Except he was distracted or inhibited for a few months. Or it took so long for us to feel the affects, or for them to reach this level." Oliver concluded.

"Of course he was, he had his rebellious son's younger son to chase after." Draco growled, "I had to send the poor boy off to Durmstrang for a year."

"How did that solve anything?" Oliver demanded.

Draco smirked slightly, "Lucius spent a good deal of time trying to find out where I had sent him. He has Kai firmly in his dark grasp, as he does Veronica, with the help of the Parkinson seniors."

"So he may have underestimated the wards on the school, which is why it took it so long to penetrate." Hannah confirmed.

"But what kind of potion or spell did he use?" Seamus demanded.

"A Dampening Drought, except altered or perhaps used in conjunction with a spell or ritual to affect an area, not a person and not need to be ingested." Snape said smoothly.

"A ritual?" Ginny asked, swallowing hard.

"Yes, Ginny, probably a traditional Dark Art ritual..." Draco sighed, "Have any witches or wizards gone missing recently?"

Oliver suddenly looked panicked, "Katie left for work with the International Cooperation Department in Russia during the summer. She was supposed to be back for Christmas and I haven't gotten an owl from her in a while, but I didn't think much of it... She gets absorbed in her work often; it's not the first time we've lost touch when she was late from a trip..." He faltered, beginning to shake, "Oh god..."

Bill Weasley looked at Oliver worriedly and picked up a quill from the desk. "_Portus_." He murmured, tapping it with his wand. "Oliver, take this to the Ministry in Russia." He ordered, writing a quick message with it and handing both to him, "Return as quickly as possible with your response. If you don't return by dinner, we'll come looking for you."

Oliver swallowed bravely, "Right, I'll be back as soon as magically – and legally – possible."

With that, he vanished.

Ginny looked at her brother, "You don't think they really took Katie, do you Bill?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know, Gin... She's not a virgin; she's had August after all." He murmured.

Draco cleared his throat, "Not _all_ Dark Art rituals involve virgin's blood, just most. In fact, there are quite a few things you can do without it. The fact that Katie and Harry were close... Well, my fa- Lucius, will want to harm as many of those who opposed the Dark Lord during the war, especially Harry's friends."

"Which would mean that Cho is in danger," Ginny said suddenly, her eyes widening.

"Go warn her, Gin," Bill ordered, "Tell her to go into hiding. Hell," He looked at her, "Even you aren't safe."

"I'm not leaving Hogwarts." Ginny said sharply, "But Mother, Father... Everyone, basically; they all need to be warned."

"Go warn them, but Cho needs to be sent to a safe place." Her brother commanded.

"_Portus_," Ginny said, tapping a quill and picking it up, "I'll be back before dinner as well."

* * *

Dethol watched as Ginny vanished with the portkey. "What do you want us to do, Bill?" He asked.

"Heads will inform their Houses that their classes will be suspended and they will be confined to the castle. Assure them that their lack of magical ability will be rectified as soon as possible." The Headmaster ordered, "Severus, Draco will replace you in informing Slytherin House of this, as I need your intellect put to work on how to counter this magical damper. Seamus, you will go inform the Gryffindors in Ginny's stead."

Dethol nodded, "Aye, Headmaster."

Together, he, Draco, Seamus and Hannah left the staff room. Draco and Hannah headed down the stairs, while he and Seamus headed up. The Transfiguration professor looked bursting to ask questions. He inclined his head and the ex-Gryffindor near exploded with words about what he thought of the meeting and the situation. Dethol only listened with half an ear, until Seamus asked a question.

"What do you think, Dethol?" He asked.

"What about?" He asked calmly, striding purposefully beside him.

"About everything we just heard!" Seamus cried.

"Unfortunately, I can't really believe that Katie's still alive. Oliver's my friend as well and I wish she was, but I doubt she is. The times Oliver was referring to was when she was late by one or two days, not weeks. Knowing Lucius, he would have jumped at the opportunity to have her for a sacrifice. As for Cho and the other Weasleys being in danger, I believe that. Cho _is_ Harry's wife, after all, and the Weasleys may as well have been his family. And Ginny... well, you know how they were back in school." Dethol said quietly.

Seamus looked enraged, "Katie's not weak, you know! She could very well still live, she's a powerful witch!" He snapped.

"I know that, Seamus. I was on the wrong end of a few hexes of hers when I insulted Oliver when we met." The ex-Ravenclaw did not allow his irritation to show.

Seamus glared at him, "And don't I know it, that was one hell of a Quidditch match when we eventually got around to playing it." He frowned, "But everyone who was close to Harry is in danger, I have to agree."

They had reached the place where they parted and Dethol was rather grateful. "See you back in the staff room." He said, probably a lot sharper than he meant to.

He reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room without difficulty. Even Peeves seemed to be on his best behaviour. He paused and turned to stare at the poltergeist, who was floating dismally down the hallway in front of the door to the dormitory.

"Oy, Peeves!" He called.

"Crazy Kooky Christopher McKarn," Peeves said with a smirk vaguely reminiscent of his usual one and in an attempt at an Irish accent.

"Be serious for a moment, and don't call me that." He snapped, "You look even more translucent than usual, are you feeling alright?"

"No." He was told bluntly by the little man, "Not been right since Halloween."

"Yes, the ghosts would have been the first affected..." Dethol mused before entering the rooms.

As soon as he entered, the majority of his house gathered in the proudly decorated room. The furniture had navy cushions and there was bronzed brown wood panelling and flooring everywhere. It had a kind of 'cottage in the woods' look, though prouder and more regal. The Ravenclaw insignia was on a bronze plaque above the fireplace, which always had blue flames. House pride was something Ravenclaws rarely spoke of, but had a lot.

"Ravenclaws, come to the common room!" He called in a booming voice which echoed throughout the tower.

He counted the seventy students three times to make sure they were all present. The first-years looked the least nervous of all, while the seventh years looked alarmed. That made sense, the seventh years would be most aware of their loss of magical ability.

"As you are all aware, your classes were put on hold this morning," He began, speaking loudly and clearly, "This will continue to be the case until we manage to rectify what has happened. The magical energies of everyone in this school have been severely dampened, as you may have noticed with your difficulty to perform more difficult spells. You will not be allowed to leave the castle itself until further notice."

Babble had broken out and he held out his wand, letting out a sound like a muggle gunshot, which brought silence as effectively as a Silencing Charm.

"I was _not_ finished." He snapped, "This is important and if you do not wish to pay attention then you will be harmed if you attempt any magic. We do _not_ know what is happening, so it is best not to take chances. You are supposed to be the smartest of the four Houses, please show it by exercising _caution_.

"Thus, no classes, no leaving the castle and absolutely _no_ performing magic until you are told otherwise by a Hogwarts professor." He concluded, "Not following these rules will lead to the direst of consequences..."

There was a stunned silence following his declaration and he nodded before leaving the room again. He was the crazy demon-raiser, they would respect him. And, until further notice, he would be the only one to go outside on a daily basis. He would have to confer with the centaurs.

"Bloody hell, I hate centaurs." He groaned to himself as he descended the stairs again, "And they hate anyone that has anything to do with Hogwarts... All because of that whole Firenze fiasco," He quieted, "Firenze was probably the most honourable one of all. At least they let us in the forest again nowadays..."

"Talking to yourself again, McKarn?" The Bloody Baron demanded, gliding alongside him.

"Will you ghosts just _stop_ calling me that?" He demanded, glaring at the extremely translucent being covered in silver bloodstains.

"I hear the school is on lockdown..." The ghost drawled.

"Yes, it is. And, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to a meeting and then deal with those hell-horses that live in that damned forest." He muttered distractedly and walked through him with just a bit of a shiver into the staff room.

"The ghosts have begun fading," He announced to those who had all returned before him.

"How do you know?" Charles asked.

"Peeves was being reasonable and told me that he began feeling odd around Halloween, not to mention the Bloody Baron stooped as low as to talk to me." Dethol informed him.

"Wow, this really _is_ bad..." Hannah sighed, sitting down in a chair heavily.

"And it's just beginning." Bill added firmly.


	15. Grave Matters

"Has anyone seen Professor Binns?" Vega asked suddenly.

"With the ghosts fading, I doubt he's too in touch with the world of the living at the moment." Dethol replied.

Draco fumed, "We're getting _nothing_ done by sitting around here!" He exclaimed.

Suddenly, Oliver bloody Wood, brilliant Quidditch teacher and absolutely adored pretty-boy half-hero of the war reappeared. _Wow,_ Draco thought, _I must be more irritated than usual, to actually call him that mentally._

"She's gone." The red-head said brokenly, his shoulders shaking, "She left back in October and no one has seen her since..."

"She's a tough witch, Oliver," Seamus, idiotic fire-starting Gryffindor, said in what he thought was a soothing tone.

"She's _gone_, Seamus!" Oliver cried, dropping heavily into a chair and holding his head in his hands. "Missing for four months? No chance she's still alive!"

"I'm sorry, Oliver," Bill said sadly, looking at a loss for words.

Draco seethed. Not at them, for once, but at the monster he called father. _He could have at least rid the wizarding world of someone they hated! Like one of the Creeveys! No, wait... that was already done. Corner! Michael Corner! Why not that idiotic bloke?_ He crossed his arms and glared at the fireplace without saying a word as the others tried to soothe Wood's woes.

Snape returned from the dungeons. "A Dampening Draught with the blood of someone who had a strong relation to the place you want to have the magic dampened in along with an incantation clarifying which place you choose." He said instantly, "The more blood, the more powerful, I'm afraid."

"Katie loved Hogwarts..." Wood moaned.

Snape stared at him with a look of surprise, making Draco smirk at his old teacher. Before he could comment, however, someone else returned in the middle of the room with the help of a portkey.

"Cho has gone into hiding with a Secret Keeper," Ginny said swiftly, "Mum and Dad are putting up wards around The Burrow, but they'll probably move... elsewhere."

Draco raised an eyebrow. The matter was so grave that they were considering Grimmauld Place? Then again, it was owned by Tonks now... but it had not been used for over eleven years. He, for one, would not go back and live in the dank house without airing it out. They had not managed to get Mrs. Black's portrait off the wall before they abandoned it, though Kreacher had died by then. Thus, the house was in ruins once again.

_Should we be this worried about my father?_ He thought, as he took in the strained faces, _Yes,_ He concluded, _Yes, we should. He killed Bell, after all. He'll kill others._

Dethol sighed. "It's about lunch time, should we head to the Great Hall?"

Oliver looked at him, his face paper white and his eyes bloodshot. "Go on ahead, I'll... I'll stay here."

"Want me to tell August?" Ginny offered kindly.

"No, no," The Quidditch professor sighed, putting his head back in his hands, "I'll tell him."

Everyone voiced encouragement as they passed, leaving the staff room for the Great Hall. As they emerged into the hallways, they all put on brave masks as if nothing were wrong. Draco looked at Wood and managed to grip his shoulder in silent encouragement, earning a weak smile in return. They would have to live through this. They had lived through worse.

* * *

Zephari sat, stunned, on the floor of the boys' dormitory. The first year Gryffindors had gathered in the only room all of them could access and were animatedly discussing what it could all mean; all of them except Zephari. They all had their own theories as to what was happening, except for Zephari. She did not need to guess, because she knew.

She could not help but feel guilty. She had caused all this pandemonium, after all. But it alarmed her that the magic of those in the castle really _was_ fading. She had asked around and the majority of the older students reported that they felt rather funny as well, especially the seventh years. Fern and Willow looked positively green when she had asked them.

Fern walked into the room, looking even worse, "Have any of you seen August?" She asked weakly.

They all shook their heads, yet Zephari stood up. "Is something wrong?" She whispered to her cousin, stepping outside with her.

Fern shook her head, "I don't know, Zeph, but August's dad has asked me to bring him to his office." She replied.

"This isn't natural." Zephari murmured, "The adults didn't notice because they haven't been using serious magic recently."

Fern sighed, "Don't worry, Zeph, they'll figure it out." She said, giving her a hug before going up the stairs some more.

"You alright, Zephari?" Zoë asked worriedly as she walked back into the circular room.

"No." Zephari groaned, sitting down and leaning against Liam's bed with her head in her hands. "I feel sick, which doesn't make sense as we haven't been trying to do anything big."

"You look as drained as Fern and Willow." Dante observed.

"But it doesn't make sense..." Zephari grumbled, running her hands through her hair.

They stayed silent until the bell rang. Zephari did not feel hungry in any way. It was quite the opposite, actually. However, she stood up with the help of Zoë and Liam, who walked beside her down to the Great Hall. She felt slightly guilty for making her friends worry so much about her but was too busy trying to fight down her nausea to experience the feeling fully.

"Hey... Professor Wood isn't up there." Liam murmured.

"And August isn't at the table." Dante whispered.

Zephari groaned as she sat down, placing her head in her hands, resting her elbows on the table, as soon as she could. "He's married to Katie Bell." She told the others weakly, "She went to Russia over the summer and was due home for Christmas. Aunt Angelina told me so. She didn't come home in time."

"So you think that... she... she..." Dante faltered horribly.

"Lucius Malfoy's one of the last Death Eaters from Voldemort's inner circle that is still free." She muttered, "He would want revenge on Uncle Harry. He would go after those Harry cared for. Katie and Harry were rather chummy in school and she was far away from home..." Zephari mumbled, not listening.

"Oh sweet Merlin..." Natasha murmured.

All those who had heard, which were just her fellow first years, looked completely stunned. Zephari felt as if she were about to retch. She bent over her plate, staring at its shiny state though not seeing anything. Her ears were ringing and blood was pounding in them as well, not to mention her throat felt constricted.

"Zephari?" A voice said nearby.

"Zeph? Zephari." Another called, shaking her shoulder.

She looked in the direction of the shoulder-shaker, seeing Zoë's worried face.

"Zephari, if you could come with me," A smooth voice asked behind her.

She nodded numbly and stood up, proceeding to topple over and vomit all over whoever's shoes. She sat down again and stared up at Draco Malfoy's disgusted – yet worried – features. "Sorry." She croaked.

"_Scourgify_." He commanded and her mess vanished from the floor, his shoes, her shoes and her chin. "Come with me." He repeated.

She stood up shakily and he held her elbow so that she would stay upright. He brought her not to his office, but to the hospital wing. She looked quizzically at him, though the sudden movement made her stomach lurch uncomfortably. He sat her down on a bed and Madam Patil came to see her instantly.

"Can you speak?" She asked Zephari.

The girl opened her mouth to say she could, then her stomach gave another heave and she shook her head, making it lurch again. "Bucket," She managed to say.

"What?" The matron asked, not understanding the significance.

"She's going to vomit again." The professor growled, "Where are the buckets?"

Zephari heard his footsteps moving away, so the matron had obviously pointed him the right direction. She fell back, feeling faint and weak. She was also infuriated with herself for being so weak. Nobody else was fainting or being sick. Fern looked as miserable as she felt, but she did not have to be taken to the infirmary. She opened her mouth to say something and was extremely glad that Draco had shoved a bowl into her grasp at the last moment.

The matron bustled about and gave her a potion. "This is to make you rest and sleep," She said, "You're to drink it all in one gulp. Don't be like your father and just drink half of it. Your mother was always a good patient, drinking it as she was told."

"Will it make her stop... divulging her stomach contents?" Draco asked carefully.

"Yes, if she can drink it all down." Madam Patil replied.

"Patil... Padma Patil..." Zephari muttered to herself, lying back against the pillows and feeling much better now that she had gotten that out of her system. "You went to the Yule Ball with my granddad."

The matron's mouth tightened slightly, "Drink your potion, Miss Black." She ordered.

Draco, however, was smirking. "Ha! Even the students know about that fiasco with the weasel."

Zephari nearly spilt her potion, unable to lift it. The nurse held it for her and she drank it all at once. She coughed slightly. "Vile." She muttered. "Completely vile,"

The woman laughed slightly, "Yes, but it does the job."

Zephari leaned back comfortably. "Not sick anymore..." She mumbled before dropping off to sleep.

* * *

"Bill, I think the seventh years should leave the school and go to Hogsmeade." Dethol said softly, pacing back and forth in front of the Headmaster's desk.

The eldest Weasley son sighed and ran a hand through his long hair, "Zephari is only the first to be so sick. Luckily Padma is keeping her asleep with that potion. Fern and Willow aren't doing all too good, either." He said, more to himself than to Dethol, he supposed. "Yes, I'm afraid we have no other choice."

It had been a week since Zephari had fallen so ill. Her magical energy was not used to being so compressed and whenever she woke, she simply dry-retched constantly. Dethol had gone to visit the ward that afternoon only to be informed that Zephari had not woken for thirty-six hours.

"You are aware, then, that she has slipped into a coma of sorts?" He asked.

Bill Weasley looked up sharply, "So soon?" He exclaimed.

Dethol nodded, "She hasn't woken for thirty-six hours; Padma supposes that she won't be waking until this matter is fixed." He admitted.

Bill sighed and Dethol noticed the lines marring his otherwise handsome features. Not that he thought Bill handsome, but that was what Fleur told him whenever he was at The Burrow at the same time as her. And why was he affirming the fact that he was heterosexual to himself? He rolled his eyes inwardly and brought his attention back to the matter at hand.

"If we send her to Hogsmeade, will she awake?" The Headmaster asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"We don't know. It's not safe there, she should remain at Hogwarts." He answered truthfully. "The thing is: How can we counter it?"

"Severus and Draco are dealing with that at the moment." Bill replied slowly.

"If it's a spell and potion, there has to be something that's keeping it in motion. Nothing lasts forever, especially not a spell or a potion's effects. The longest lasting spell was three months, potion was four months. It's been more than that, so they have to have a key... a source... something to keep it." Dethol thought aloud, "But what would they have? It would be formed when the spell or potion was completed, so it could not be anything they had before...

"Do we have anyone undercover with the Death Eaters?" He asked suddenly.

"What?" Bill asked, shocked, "No, we pulled out all our undercover people before open conflict."

"Damn." Dethol said before letting off a string of curses.

"What good would that have given us?" Bill demanded.

Dethol stared at him. "What good?" He repeated, his voice rising, "What _good_? God damn you, Bill! Every good! Having someone undercover would have let us know what the key was! Or they would have warned us!"

"Well we don't, so we need to find another way to find out what the key is." Bill snapped.

"And what do you suppose we do? Go all Gryffindor and storm in there with trumpets blaring to announce our arrival?" Dethol demanded.

"Well we can't just stand here!" Bill snarled.

Suddenly, Dethol had an idea. "No... no we can't..." He said quietly.

Bill stared at him, obviously prepared to make another angry retort. "What?" He asked.

"We can't barge in like Gryffindors, but we can't just stand around. We need cunning, but not just cunning... cleverness as well."

"What are you saying, Dethol?"

"Headmaster, I believe that because classes have been cancelled in this school I am not necessary for it to function at this point. Therefore, I kindly request that you accept my leave of absence for an undetermined amount of time."

Without giving Bill a chance to respond, Dethol stood up and left the room. He went down the spinning stairs, past the gargoyle and out the front steps. He knew what he was going to do. He ignored Zoë's anxious voice as he ran down the steps and strode across the lawn.

"Dethol!" She cried, probably for the hundredth time as she tugged at his sleeve, "Where are you _going_?" She demanded.

He tried to brush past her, but another set of hands had latched onto his other sleeve.

"Where are you going?" Dante demanded; her face livid with anger, "You can't leave! You're like a father to Zephari! You can't abandon her!"

This brought him to a state of mind good enough to answer vaguely.

"I'm going to help her." He said quietly, "Now let me go, I have to go."

The girls stared at him in shock and he took advantage of the moment to push free of them and leave the grounds. Without letting himself think, he prepared himself to Disapparate. He turned and looked back at the castle through the gates.

_I'm going to save the world._ He thought, vanishing.

* * *

Zoë stared after Dethol, "He's going to help her?" She repeated, incredulous.

"How dare he abandon her like this?" Dante demanded.

Zoë had never seen her friend so livid. Dante looked ready to hex Dethol, if she had not been strictly warned not to use magic. She might have even forgone that. Never tickle a sleeping dragon, said the motto of Hogwarts. Zoë knew a better piece of advice: Never insult a Weasley. Then your life was mostly forfeit.

"He's going to help her." Zoë repeated, firmer this time.

"Why not somebody else?" Dante asked.

"Because Dethol is stubborn, and he's a Ravenclaw." Zoë told her, feeling better now that she was trying to ease her cousin's anger, "He can devise a plan to save her, and it'll work. I heard that the Sorting Hat nearly couldn't decide where to put him. In the end, he told it where to put him. However, it took a little longer with Zephari."

"He had better come back." Dante growled, "Even if he saves her, he has to come back."

Zoë nodded, "Say, have you see August at all since...?"

Dante shook her head, "Colin says he's hidden in his room ever since... He won't talk to anyone."

Zoë sighed, "I'll go see him."

Dante looked evenly at her. Zoë was certain that her currently green-haired comrade was going to tell her off and say it was best to leave him alone. Dante avoided confrontations constantly while Zoë relished in them. However, that was not what she planned to do.

"Good idea." She said, smiling, "You're just the person to do so."

Zoë stared at her, mouth open and gaping.

Dante giggled slightly, "Go on, go talk to him." She urged, pushing her up the grounds.

Zoë left her friend at the door to the Great Hall then proceeded up to the seventh floor. She entered the Gryffindor dormitories with a muttered _Expecto Patronum_ to the Fat Lady. She then went up the stairs to where she knew the third year boys' room was.

She rapped on the door with her knuckles, "August?" She called.

No response.

"It's Zoë." She added.

Again, she got no response.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

The door opened and she saw August lying in his bed, staring blindly up at the ceiling. She moved in and sat beside him. He continued to stare up at the ceiling, his brown eyes fixed on one point. She saw they were bloodshot and that his nose was slightly red.

"They found her body, you know." He said hoarsely, "Not in Russia. It was delivered to our house. Our _house_; like she was nothing more than _garbage_ to toss on our doorstep."

"At least you get to bury her." Zoë reminded him.

He looked at her, surprised. "Her throat was cut, her hands still bound and not a stitch of clothing on her. She was covered in bruises and scars and cuts. They _tortured_ her." He moaned, lying back again.

"She probably went out fighting." The girl told him, "If she had a choice as to how, she probably would have chosen to go down like that, other than having given in."

"You didn't even know her!" He spat.

"I didn't know my father, but I've heard enough about him to assume such! And if you think your mum is never talked about my family, you're wrong!" She replied waspishly.

"Why would Chang talk about my mum?" He demanded, glaring at her suddenly.

"The Weasleys are my family too, you know." She told him, "And I'm pretty sure you and your dad would be welcome, if you would be able to stand it."

He glared at her and she glared back. They stayed that way for a while before he sighed and stared up at the ceiling again. She watched him for a while, not really knowing what to say. She had never been the comforting one; that had always been an adult's job. She had been the one that needed comforting.

"I know how it feels. The best thing you can do is remember how they lived, instead of hating them for dying, or going after those who killed them." She said quietly after a while.

"So I should just forgive those bastards?" He demanded.

"No, you should just not seek revenge or dwell on it forever." She answered, "Good wizards have died of misery due to that."

He looked at her, "You don't hate the Death Eaters for what they did to your dad and grandparents?" He asked.

"Oh, I hate them. I wish they would be stabbed a thousand times before they died." She said fervently, "But that doesn't mean I'll go after them and try to hurt them myself, nor will I obsess over it. Our loved ones wouldn't want us to be like that, they would want us to go on."

August sighed and looked back at her. Neither spoke again for a while. She felt him twine his fingers with hers and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.

"Thanks." He whispered.

Zoë smiled and gave him a hug, "You're welcome." She answered, "And don't tell anyone I hugged you, 'cause Zephari would make fun of me and Dante would act all smug and probably imitate you for a week."

August laughed and hugged her back, "Thanks, Zoë."

"Want to come down to supper?" She asked, "You can sit with us, too." She added shyly.

He smiled at her, "I'd like that."


	16. Brothers

Percy Weasley sat at his desk as Minister for Magic, scribbling avidly with a handsome peacock quill. He heard a knock and looked up. He had told his secretary not to let anyone in. It had to be urgent. He placed his quill in its holder and rolled up the parchment on his desk. Whoever it was, they had no right to see what he was writing.

"Come in." He said regally, sitting up straight in his throne-like chair.

The person who walked in, however, nearly made him faint from shock. He gripped the arms of his chair. How _dare_ he come in here? Did he not know that none of his kin were welcome in his presence? It had been hard to allow them to continue to work in the Ministry, but for them to present themselves in his office? Especially _him_?

He crossed his arms, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not here because I want to, trust me." The red-headed man snapped. "A Dampening Draught has been placed over Hogwarts and those who used magic while it was in place are sickening. Zephari Black has gone into a comatose state."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Percy asked languidly.

"What does this-?" His visitor repeated incredulously, "For Merlin's sake, she's your great niece! You can't tell me you've sunk as low as to not care what happens to Lily's daughter when she was the only one who talked to you after what you did to us!"

Percy cringed. He felt guilty for severing his links to his family, but he had no other choice. He had his own life, his own problems; he did not need to deal with the multitude of Weasleys and their issues. "Hogwarts can solve its own problems, can it not?" He asked smoothly.

He earned a glare for that, "Dethol has run off to save the world, without any help from the Ministry. I am here to ask you if we may send our most affected students to Hogsmeade."

"Go ahead, I'm not going to punish the students for one adult's idiocy." Percy said lightly.

"I don't know you any more." The visitor snarled, "To think that Mum still cries because you didn't show up at Ron's funeral. You've become no better than Fudge, and look at where his stupidity got him!"

"Do _not_ speak that way about Cornelius Fudge!" Percy snapped, standing.

He was still a thin man, yet he was a tall man. He and his brother were of the same stature, both taller and lankier than their other brothers. No, they were not his brothers anymore. He was separate from them. He saw that Bill Weasley's face was creased with lines of worry and he had streaks of grey in his red hair. He knew that he, as well, had such things added to his appearance.

"I'll speak of him any way I want, Percy." Bill breathed menacingly, "He tried to kill Harry at the battle. You know this, you were there. He went mad with hate because he refused to believe the truth!"

Percy's face was flushed with embarrassment and dislike. Bill's voice had risen steadily throughout his speech, of sorts, so that he was speaking at normal volume after having spoken at a whisper at the beginning. As Percy watched him, he felt anger boiling in him.

"You never understood what it's like to work for the Ministry!" He snapped, his voice and temper flaring, "You never got it! We have press fluttering around us constantly! One wrong word could break us, so we have to be careful and watch everything we say or do!" He took a deep breath, "All _you_'ve ever cared about was catching dark wizards and witches so you could 'avenge' those who you cared about. Be happy that I even allow you to continue running about freely, as you've broken countless laws!"

"Nice to know you have a bit of familial attachment left in you." Bill growled.

"Just warn your little friend," Percy replied quietly as Bill headed for the door, "This time, if he kills anyone, not even a plea of insanity will save him."

Bill whirled to glare at him, "You wouldn't. Even if you're an arrogant, overbearing git, you wouldn't lock up someone to whom you owe so much."

Percy arched an eyebrow, "Oh, I would indeed. Pardon only extends so far. Now, _get out_."

The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry left his office with the slamming of the door. Percy sat back in his chair and kept his hands firmly clenched onto the arm rests. He would _not_ fire all the Weasleys working at the Ministry. They had an incredibly embarrassing amount of children to support, after all. However, he did have other matters to attend to.

He unrolled the parchment he had been writing on, a letter to Katie Bell's family. It was nearly finished, full of his apologies and regrets but not giving them a reason as to her death. He owed them that much. Even he admitted that there were still Death Eaters amok. He also knew that Lucius Malfoy would not be above killing one of Harry's friends to achieve some kind of twisted revenge.

He dipped his quill in ink and held it above the parchment. He was going to tell them all he knew, they deserved that. He had been friends with Katie in school, after all. He sighed and began to write, feeling as if he were sealing his own doom in the letter. If what he said got out, panic would ensue and he would be pressured to fix things.

_If my suspicions are correct, your daughter was murdered and used in dark rituals by the few Death Eaters who have managed to evade Aurors..._

* * *

Draco looked over at Ginny as they stood in the Headmaster's office, waiting for the eldest weasel to get back from a younger weasel's office. Bill stepped from the fireplace with a sigh, nodding at both of them. Draco saw Ginny roll her eyes irritably and settled for crossing his arms irritably.

"Why did you even go see that git?" Ginny demanded hotly, "You know he can't do anything to us for staying the Shrieking Shack."

"I know, but it's best not to get on the Ministry's bad side when it would do nothing but aid the remaining Death Eaters." The Headmaster answered, running a hand through his slightly greying red hair.

"So, only the seventh years, then?" Draco asked, making sure he was correct.

"Take the fifth years as well." Bill ordered, to his surprise.

"Uh... Why?" He demanded.

"You're to train them for their OWLs and NEWTs, obviously." The lunatic answered.

Draco scowled. He no longer just had twenty Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, but forty of the idiotic children to watch. He hoped the Slytherins and Ravenclaws would be able to control the stupider students. It would not be good if they accidentally lit their accommodations on fire, seeing as it was an unnaturally chilly January.

"They've already been informed that they are leaving tonight, after the feast," Bill added, looking evenly at Draco.

"You knew that we'd have to take twice as many of the brats?" Draco demanded, whirling on Ginny.

"Well... yes." She answered, smirking at him, "I would have thought you would have known as well."

"Bloody Gryffindors... always assuming things..." He trailed off.

"I suggest you two gather your things and bring them to your new location before the feast." Bill said slyly.

"Bloody hell!" Draco snapped, "We're basically going into exile to go live in a decrepit mound of wood and nearly freeze to death and that's all you say to us?"

Ginny laughed and grabbed onto his arm, "Come on, Draco," She said in a teasing tone.

Draco fumed. All the weasels were after him, putting their muggle-loving hands all over him. Why had he switched sides anyways? So he could spend time with these lunatics? Somehow, it did not seem a fair exchange. His services in exchange for them to put their grubby hands on his sleeves as they towed him around as they wished, revelling in muggle customs, filling him with their deliriously delectable desserts and shoving him in piles of dust and rubbish that they called dwellings.

_No, _He told himself, _I switched sides because there was absolutely no way I was going to abase myself before a stupid half-blood with a grudge. No way was I going to risk my neck only to be defeated by Potter. That would have been the ultimate humiliation. Not to mention that Azkaban would completely tarnish my devilish good looks._

Draco wrenched his arm from the hellcat's grip. "I suppose your husband isn't very pleased about this arrangement?" He asked, smirking.

"Actually... He doesn't know." Ginny answered, biting her lower lip, "He's gone into hiding with Cho, so I can't reach him."

"Oh." He faltered, not having expected their conversation to take a depressing turn.

"Meet back here in five minutes." She called, walking swiftly in the direction of her office and quarters.

Draco stared after her. Five minutes? Five minutes was barely enough time to go up to his office, let alone pack all his things! He needed his hair... uh... _air_ supply to last him the walk, yes. He sighed and headed quickly in the direction of his office, scowling at those students who got in his way. They were soon out of his path.

Miraculously, he was in the Entrance Hall five minutes later with one trunk full of belongings. His clothes, his h-_air supply_ intact, his favourite foods – as they would not have house elves in their new accommodations – and quills, parchment and other such things. He would have to teach while they were there, after all. Hopefully Ginny would take the younger imbeciles.

"Wow, I really didn't expect you to be here on time." Ginny taunted, her trunk floating gaily along behind her.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Whatever made you think that?" He drawled.

"Oh, just the fact that you're quite a girl when it comes to belongings," She smirked and walked out the front doors.

"I am not!" Draco snapped, following.

"You are too!" Ginny called over her shoulder, "What with your beauty products and all."

"_Beauty products_?" He spluttered indigently.

"Don't bother to lie to yourself, Draco, I know all about you and your relationship with your hair." She snickered.

"How?" He hissed, speeding up to walk beside her.

She arched an eyebrow, "You forget how much the Slytherin girls liked to gossip, especially about you."

"They wouldn't!" He snapped.

"Oh, they _would_." She affirmed, smiling evilly, "Pansy Parkinson announced it to the Great Hall the day after you dumped her."

"Which time?" He asked, stopping out of reach of the Whomping Willow's branches.

"Your seventh year, just before Halloween," Ginny answered with a smile, leaving her trunk beside him to dart forward and press the knot on the trunk of the willow.

"Ah, that time." He mused, walking forward when the branches froze, "She was _most_ annoyed when she caught me kissing a certain Gryffindor red-head."

"Whatever possessed you to do that, I'll never know." Ginny answered with a smile before dropping into the tunnel.

He followed suit, brushed dust off his robes. They would have to send the students through in threes and twos so that they would not get clobbered. This would take time. He would go ahead, obviously, and Ginny would stay with the mongrels. The less time he spent with them, the longer he would be able to survive in their company.

"Well, that one hellcat is quite an attractive woman." He murmured as they set off down the tunnel when their trunks joined them.

She turned to look at him, surprise etched on her face, but he busied himself with ducking under an imaginary root. _She's married,_ He told himself, _and has six kids. I'm a hopeless man. I should just give up and get over her. I had my chance, but Corner won. How the hell did that happen anyways? Oh, right, I devoted myself to my work in the end. Damn it all. Why did she choose that idiotic anti-Gryffindor git over this sexy anti-Gryffindor rich man?_

* * *

Ginny glanced back over her shoulder numerous times as they walked down the tunnel. Had he actually said he found her attractive? She thought he had stopped feeling anything towards her when he plunged into his work as an Auror sixteen years prior. She tripped into the stairs, cursed and righted herself. They entered the decaying place, the walls swaying slightly.

"I hate this place," She sighed, looking around.

"Rather drab." Draco drawled from behind her, "Budge up, weasel, you're blocking the doorway."

She blushed scarlet and took a step to the left. On impulse, she took her wand from her pocket. She quickly conjured eighty squishy black sleeping bags scattered around the floor and two slightly thicker, larger ones for herself and Draco rather apart from the others. She lit a fire in the fireplace of the main room they were in and reattached the splintered parts of the desk's legs to its owner.

Satisfied, Ginny turned to Draco, who was scowling at the fireplace.

"You sure it won't burn through what's left of that wall?" He asked her.

"Positive, 'Mione taught me that spell a few years back and it doesn't burn wood yet creates warmth." She said proudly, "Ready to set wards?"

"I can do so on my own." He sounded insulted.

"I'd rather not be left alone in this depressing place." Ginny told him without thinking.

It was true; the Shrieking Shack was not a place she wanted to be in alone. She was not afraid of it, as it was not haunted, but it brought back memories she wished she did not have. Of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Remus... basically everyone, to be honest. Dumbledore's Army had even met in there once. But what her words had really meant was that she did not want to be far from him, which was also strangely true.

_Come on, Gin, _She thought firmly, _you're a married woman. Ginevra Weasley-Corner is your name now, the students know you as Professor Corner. Besides, he had his chance to have you and he ruined it. You chose the outspoken Ravenclaw over the sexy Slytherin sixteen years ago, you can't go back now. Even if you had a Time Turner, you can't change the past that far back._

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. She had forgotten just how handsome he was when he truly smiled. He rarely did so now, not since his year-mates had tried to kill him when he refused the Dark Mark. Only later did Blaise Zabini become a spy for the good, following in Severus's footsteps. And now even Blaise was gone.

Ginny smiled back and they walked around the perimeter of the house from the inside, warding it against outside attacks and any fires. The latter was something Draco insisted on, so Ginny performed that spell. It felt good to spend time with him in mutual cooperation.

"We had better go back." He said with a tinge of... reluctance? No, it could not be, she was just fooling herself with her school-girl thoughts.

"The feast will be starting soon," Ginny agreed.

This time, he led the way down the tunnel. Ginny tried very hard not to think incriminating thoughts. She was married with six children. She could not be having these thoughts... but she was. She, Ginny Weasley-Corner, had a crush on somebody at forty-eight years of age. Somebody who was not her husband.


	17. Teenagers

"We have to stay _here_?" A Slytherin girl exclaimed with disgust on her face. "We can't stay in this, this..."

"Decrepit mound of dust?" Draco offered, striding past her to sit at the desk, "Unfortunately, we have to. You need to practice for your exams, after all."

"How come the other years didn't come?" She demanded.

_Little whiner, _He thought, though aloud he said simply, "They do not have major wizarding exams this year."

"And do we have to stay with these? They're _Gryffindors_ and _Hufflepuffs_!" She whined, "I don't want them touching my things!"

"Feel free to isolate yourself in one of the rooms, though this chimney is the only one safe to light a fire in." He growled through clenched teeth.

"How can you stand for this, Sir? You're a Slytherin too!" She snapped.

"I have learned to keep my mouth shut, Miss Zabini, it would do well for you to do so as well." He snapped back, standing up and glaring at her, "Now you will hold your tongue about such prejudice while in the presence of myself, Professor Corner and any other students. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." She spat.

"Wow, Zabini, in trouble already?" Scott Weasley taunted, having just entered the room.

"What's it to you, Weasley?" She demanded.

"She probably insulted us Gryffindors and our friendly Hufflepuffs again." Ralph Weasley told his brother.

Draco could not help but be grateful that the twins were wearing their Weasley jumpers. It was the only way he could identify them. The rest of the Weasleys piled in after the two boys. Spring and Summer were also wearing their jumpers, which each had a tree on the left side, Spring's was budding and Summer's had a full canopy of leaves. Fern and Willow were discernible due to personality and the fact that Fern always followed her twin's lead.

When all eighty of the juvenile monsters had gathered in the room, Draco realised that it would be far too small. Not to mention it would be best to divide them, what with them being teenagers and having hormones and such. Sweet Merlin, he was trapped in a wooden shack full of dust with eighty bloody _teenagers_! If there was hell on Earth, this was it.

Ginny caught his eye and nodded before leaving the room. She obviously found another living room, as she returned rather quickly.

"Girls, grab a sleeping bag and follow me." She called.

A few glanced reluctantly at the boys before picking up a roll and following Ginny. Draco glared at his charges when a few made as if to follow. They stopped dead in their tracks. Ralph and Scott Weasley looked positively delighted. _Aw, hell,_ He thought when he realized he had the two most prominent pranksters since Fred and George Weasley to watch over.

"You will all be sleeping in this room. Anyone who leaves it will be hexed and forced to sleep outside. Am I clear?" He snarled menacingly.

A few swallowed hard.

Ralph, however, looked smug, "See, Scott, I told you we wouldn't be left in the same room as the girls." He said loudly.

"Obviously not. They don't trust our teenage hormones," Scott answered just as loudly.

Draco sighed exasperatedly, "We will begin teaching you everything you'll need to know for your OWLs and NEWTs tomorrow."

* * *

Much to hers and Draco's amazement, the students responded wonderfully to their teachings. She had taken in the fifth years at Draco's insistence. She had humoured him mostly so he would not gripe about it constantly when they returned to their 'office' when the students were sleeping.

After one night, after which her co-worker had woken to find toothpaste on his face, Draco had claimed one of the other slightly smaller rooms as his office and bedroom. Ginny had soon joined him when the girls refused to go to bed for hours due to gossiping. Only Slytherin had remained apart, gossiping just to their house-mates.

This had many repercussions, though most were positive. Obviously the teenagers thought that Draco and Ginny were romantically involved, which they both denied only to receive 'knowing' grins. She had taken it in stride, rolling her eyes and avoiding the topic ever since. He had been rather irritated with it, though soon reverted to such tactics.

Even the Weasleys were amused by it, though they knew nothing of the sort was going on. Ginny's daughter Brandy was adamant that her mother was loyal to her father. _If she only knew..._ Ginny sighed.

Ginny suddenly sat up in her sleeping bag, making Draco grunt from across the room. Why not tell her? Brandy would not hate her, as Ginny had told her everything else. She hoped so, anyways. She tip-toed down the hall in her night robes and entered the girls' room with no sound other than the creak of the door.

Numerous girls were still awake. They all feigned sleep as soon as she entered and Ginny smiled slightly. She had been just like them in her fifth and seventh years, staying up past curfew and pretending to sleep whenever she was checked on. She walked over to where the Weasley girls were and crouched beside Brandy, who had been awake when she walked in.

"Brandy, can I speak with you?" She whispered, touching her daughter's shoulder.

Her eyes flew open, a worried look appearing on her face. "What's wrong?"

Ginny shook her head, "Nothing is wrong, I just need to tell you something."

Curious, Brandy stood and followed her mother out of the room after pulling on her own dressing robes. Ginny led her down the hallway to an unused room far from the others. She closed the door and locked it before turning to face her daughter.

"Sit down, Brandy," She said kindly, creating two cushions, "This might take a while."

"If it's nothing bad, why are you being all Professor Corner?" Brandy asked as they sat down.

Ginny sighed, her brow furrowed, "Because I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" The girl asked, playing with her red hair.

Ginny faltered, unable to admit it. She and Brandy had a very close relationship, more friends than familial. However, at the moment she could not admit what she had wanted to say. She fidgeted, looking at her hands in her lap for an excuse.

Brandy was still watching her, she knew it, "You aren't _really_ sleeping with Professor Malfoy, are you?"

Ginny shook her head, "No," She admitted.

"Ah, but you _want_ to." Brandy said evilly with a smirk that Ginny saw when she looked up.

"You're cruel." Ginny told her calmly.

"So true," Brandy admitted. "So, why the sudden interest?"

"Draco and I were dating long before I married Michael. We broke up when he told me that he had to marry Pansy Parkinson due to his job. Michael then asked me out and offered to marry me when he found out I was pregnant. I was scared, so I accepted." Ginny said in one breath.

"But you never really loved him, did you?" Brandy asked sympathetically.

Ginny sighed, "No, not really... You may have noticed that we've been arguing a lot lately and, well, I think it's about time we call it off instead of being miserable..." She trailed off.

Silence fell as Ginny watched her daughter who was looking intently at her..

"I was wondering what was up with you two. Dad looked ready to hex you when you so much as looked at Malfoy... I never really understood why you two got married anyways."

"You didn't?" Ginny demanded.

"Well, you two are an odd couple." Her daughter said dismissively.

"So you understand why I'm going to owl him tomorrow, asking for a divorce?" Ginny asked kindly.

Brandy nodded slightly, "Can't say I'm happy, but the lack of sleep has been getting to me."

"Don't joke around like that." She warned.

"That's how I deal, I joke." The younger version of Ginny answered seriously, "So, once you've divorced Dad, what do you plan to do?"

Ginny stared at her.

"Will you admit that you and Malfoy are intimate then?" Brandy asked impishly, smirking again, "It's so obvious... Unless you'll deny it again."

"Brandy!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well, are you?" Her daughter demanded, smirking.

"No!" Ginny exclaimed, "And I haven't told him yet, but I'll tell him before this whole problem is solved."

Brandy arched an eyebrow doubtfully.

"What? You don't trust me?" The professor inquired haughtily.

"Nope, not at all," Her evil offspring answered truthfully.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Well, I _will_ tell him." She affirmed, "Now, back to bed with you."

Brandy smirked and walked down the hall of her own accord. Ginny watched her go with a proud smile. Of all her children, she knew that Brandy was the only one who could take such a blow so well. Joseph would have never spoken to her again, Daniel would have withdrawn into sultry solitude, Alexis would have yelled and tried to hex her, Aleanor would probably had slapped her and never spoken to her again while Amanda would have been shocked into never speaking aloud again.

Ginny opened the door to her room and went straight to her sleeping bag with a slight bounce in her step.

"What was that all about?" Draco's drawling voice asked as she lay down.

"I was just telling Brandy that I'm divorcing her father." Ginny answered, not watching her mouth, "Oh great Godric, did I just say that out loud?"

"Merlin, Gin," Draco exclaimed, rolling over to stare at her, "Why the hell are you doing that?"

"Keep your voice down, Draco." She warned.

"Keep my voice down?" He repeated, "Bloody hell woman, why?"

"It's for the best." She responded.

She reluctantly met his smoky grey eyes from across the room. He seemed to be closer. In fact, she was certain he was closer. She could see the moonlight shine gently on his face through the slats on the window as he stopped two feet from her. Their eyes met and they simply stared for what felt like an eternity.

"We've been fighting a lot, Drake." She told him, mostly just to break the silence, "He won't want the children and, if I'm right, he'll be grateful. One, he'll no longer have to deal with my crazy family-"

"Who _wants_ to deal with the entire Weasley clan at once?" He demanded, smirking as well.

"And two, he'll finally be able to date Cho like he obviously wants to." She finished as if she had not heard him, though she grinned.

"And what will you get out of it?" He whispered, in a tone that she had never heard before.

At least, not for sixteen years and, thus, not since they had been together back then. She realized, rather guiltily, that she had missed being with him since then. And now that she had decided to divorce Michael, she had the possibility of reigniting an old flame. If he wanted to, that is.

"Maybe admit something that I've been denying..." She answered, looking away and at the floor.

"Until Corner went mental when he saw you looking at me?" He offered.

"Basically." She admitted, looking back at him.

She felt him move closer. She did not scoot away. They had been friends since he had turned his coat in her sixth year. She had been rather enamoured with him since then and they had dated off and on throughout their adult years, until he had gone off to marry Pansy as an Auror mission. They had not even called it off when he had gotten drunk and slept with another witch to get information on another such Auror mission beforehand.

"Gin?" He asked and she looked up at him. "Can I kiss you?"

In that moment, she forgot where she was and that they had eighty teenagers to watch over. She nodded and he did what he had asked permission to do without further ado. He captured her lips with his own, but she did not resist. Before she knew what was happening, they had gone far past where she had intended to stop. The worst part, she found, was that she did not regret any of it.

* * *

"Professors?" Someone called, wrapping on the locked door.

Draco's eyes flew open, meeting with bright sunlight. "Oh shit." He mumbled, rolling over as he suddenly felt the cold around him.

He curled up, "It's Sunday, let me sleep!" He yelled.

A giggle sounded on the other side followed by the pitter-patter of many cursed little teenage hormone-filled feet moving away. He rolled over, intending to go back to sleep, only to nearly choke on a mane of hair; very red hair belonging to a very pretty hellcat with not a stitch of clothing on.

"Oh hell." He muttered, reaching out and shaking her bare shoulder, "Gin, wake up. Ginny?"

She moaned and rolled onto him, putting an arm across his chest. "Just one more minute." She murmured.

"Ginny, wake up!" He whispered louder, growing slightly frantic.

"What?" Ginny asked, her eyes flying open to meet his, "Oh shit."

"Yeah." He agreed.

She rolled off of him and grabbed her clothes, pulling them back on. "Did we?" She asked.

"You know as well as I." He answered evasively, doing the same.

"Apparate to the Three Broomsticks, we don't want those rowdy hormone-filled creatures to get any ideas." He reminded her, "Be quick, I need to shower too."

She nodded and vanished.

Draco tried to accept the gravity of the situation, but could not. All he could think about was how much of a hellcat she still was, sixteen years later. He tried to make his thoughts return to more co-worker oriented matters, but could not. How lucky for him that it was Sunday and he had decided to cancel lessons for the day.

She returned quickly enough, "I had best go watch the students." She said.

"Dry your hair first; you know how their perverted minds work." He advised, "And I told them that they don't have lessons today."

"No, you told them to let you sleep." Ginny corrected.

"It's the same thing; they know that, especially the Slytherins." He replied, waving a hand dismissively.

With a crack, he vanished to the Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosmerta smiled widely at him. She was a buxom woman and made the best Butterbeer he had ever had. He smiled at her and her smile widened evilly. It was then Draco realized that she suspected. He did not look his usual sleek self and he had spent quite some time in Hogsmeade on Auror and Order missions.

"Had a little fun last night, Professor?" She asked sweetly.

Draco arched an eyebrow, subconsciously pulling his robe closer around him, "You could say that, Rosmerta. Now, could I please use your shower?"

She led the way, smiling all the way. When he reached the loo and shower, he closed the door and locked it manually and magically. Then he took off his robes and stepped into the shower, turning on the water. He sighed as the warm liquid fell onto his back but he could not wash away his incriminating thoughts.

At least he had asked her permission to kiss her. As soon as she had accepted, he knew he was in trouble. However, he had let her make the first moves from then on. If she had wanted to stop, he would have forced himself to. But the fiery woman had not stopped or indicated that she wanted to.

Now she was filling his thoughts like no one had ever done for sixteen years. He had forgotten how she managed to torture him with her absence. He also knew that Corner would be very _very_ pissed when he found out. Not that he was afraid of the idiot, but he was worried that Corner would go after Ginny when he learned why she wanted a divorce.

He looked up with a start. Bloody hell, he was going to die of heart-attack before Sirius graduated from Hogwarts if such things continued. He had gained a daughter and gotten back his teenage heart-throb in one year alone. What the next six years would have in store for him, he did not know. He hoped they would involve less heart-attacks and women-oriented problems.

With that thought, he finished his shower, dressed, thanked Rosmerta and Apparated back the shack.

"You took your own dear time." Ginny commented.

He smoothed his hair back, "I had things to think about." He admitted.

"So did I." She agreed, frowning slightly.


	18. Snowball Fight

"Michael! You have an owl." Cho called from the living room of their little home where they had gone into hiding.

Michael entered the room and took the letter from the owl, stroking it absently as a thank you. He recognized Ginny's handwriting almost instantly and felt slightly annoyed. She had sent him an owl when he and Cho had gone into hiding with a Secret Keeper? Well, he had gone with Cho as company. Otherwise she would have withdrawn into herself. He knew that was not healthy and he did not mind being her shoulder to cry on.

He ripped open the letter, wondering why it was written in a very careful and elegant scrawl as opposed to the urgent scribbling he was used to. It read:

_Dear Michael,_

_No, I'm not in trouble. No one is, so long as your Secret Keeper has remained loyal._

_Loyalty is the reason that I am writing to you. Unfortunately, I find myself unable to remain loyal to you. I've never told you the truth, but now I feel the need to do so. I'm sorry I had to tell you in a letter, but circumstances made me have no choice._

_I'm afraid that our relationship has deteriorated beyond repair. You know this; you probably admitted it to yourself often beforehand. I think it best that we file for a divorce. I have already sent the papers to the proper authorities and alerted Mum to the matter. I will take full responsibility for the children, so you need not worry about them._

_I'm sorry that our relationship has come to this and even more sorry that I could not do this in person. However, I know that I cannot remain loyal and that our relationship is only hampering you in other areas of your life._

_Hopefully you agree with me in these matters and will sign the papers when they are sent to you._

_With regret,_

_Ginny_

He dropped the letter in shock. Was there any way she could have known about himself and Cho? No, no way. Nobody knew about the two of them. Their going into hiding had started it all, after all. They had simply gotten out of control. But... no, Ginny would have mentioned that in big splotchy letters if she had known.

That only meant that Ginny had transgressed with Malfoy. He had seen it coming, ever since Draco had taken up a teaching position along with her.

"Ginny wants to file for a divorce." He told Cho.

The woman's eyes widened, "S-she can't have found out, could she?"

"Of course she didn't." He said sternly, "Apparently, Ginny feels she can't remain loyal to me, so a divorce is the best course of action."

"Harsh." Cho commented.

He rolled his eyes, "Don't you see? This is good for us! With a divorce, we'll be able to be together openly!"

She smiled and threw her arms around him with a kiss as her response.

* * *

"You sent him an _owl_?" Draco hissed at Ginny as they watched the children have a snowball fight outside.

"There was no other way to tell him." The red-head said lightly.

"Bloody hell, Weasley, can't you even try to pretend to be worried about his and Cho's situation? And what about working this all out? I thought you were going to try to work things out and you were just completely overtired or drunk last night!" He exclaimed, hiding his pleasure at the news.

"Honestly, Malfoy, I take it very seriously. Besides, you know that our relationship's been horrible since I took this job." She replied, fixing him with her fiery gaze.

"You mean, since I took this job alongside you." He corrected, smirking.

"Yes," She agreed without a pause, "I believe this is for the best of the children, anyways."

"For the best?" Draco repeated. "Do you have any idea what your overly weasel-like children will do to you?"

"Well, Joseph will probably be very confused and stop talking for a bit. Daniel will probably go into a little spout of withdrawal. Alexis will try to kill me when she finds out why. Aleanor will yell and stamp her feet and try hard not to do any physical damage to me. Oh, and Amanda will never forgive me." She said as if she were discussing the weather.

"Mental woman," He muttered, "I have had more than my share of trouble with mental women."

"Only two mental women, actually, though in different ways' Pansy was evilly mental, I'm mental in a Weasley way." She retorted.

He rolled his eyes and tugged at her scarf teasingly, "Whatever you say, weasel." He teased.

She took a mitt-full of snow and shoved it in his face before running off with a laugh.

* * *

"Hey, Brandy, what's your mum doing with Malfoy?" Chiharu asked, throwing a snowball at Ralph.

"Having a snowball fight," Brandy said dismissively, throwing another at Elida.

"While lying on top of him on the ground?" Scott demanded, pitching his at Ryan.

"Er..." Brandy faltered long enough to be hit in the back of the head by one of Elida's.

"Say, those rumours aren't _true_ are they?" Ralph demanded, shoving a handful of snow in his twin's face.

Brandy avoided the question by throwing a snowball at Ryan, missing horribly and getting hit by his retaliation. She winced and picked the cold substance off her cheek. Snowball fights were a lot more fun with Alexis. She was as feisty as Brandy, though in a less evil way. She grinned slightly, ducking to hide her expression.

"Well?" Scott persisted, holding Ralph in a head-lock.

Brandy shrugged, "It's her story to tell." She said evenly, dodging one of Chiharu's snowballs.

"It is?" Ralph demanded, struggling under Scott's arm. "You're mum's shagging Malfoy?"

Brandy arched an eyebrow, "I'm not going to answer you, Ralph. It's Mum's story to tell."

Chiharu looked over her shoulder, "Well, they've stopped their little snowball fight."

"Thank Godric, that was getting embarrassing." Brandy said gratefully.

"Spill." Ralph ordered, having managed to pin Scott to the snowy ground.

"Her story." Brandy retorted.

"Smfrl." Scott said.

"What?" Elida asked, leaning closer, "Speak up, Scott, can't hear you."

"Smfrl!" He shouted.

"He says spill." Ralph told them with a grin, shoving his twin's face farther into the snow.

"It's her story! If it annoys you so much, go ask her yourself!" Brandy exclaimed, laughing.

"Alright, we will." Ralph exclaimed, climbing off his twin and helping him to his feet.

Brandy would have slapped her forehead if she was one for excessive body language. Instead, she groaned and trudged after the spunkier members of the Weasley Clan that were trapped in Hogsmeade. It was late February now, without any change in the dampening levels on Hogwarts. As such, they were still trapped with the overgrown bat and her mother.

Ralph and Scott went right up to her mum, making Brandy hide her face in her gloved hands. They had their arms folded across their chests and were perfect replicas of each other. If it was not for the letters on their jumpers, they would have been indistinguishable.

"Are you two shagging?" Scott demanded, as Ralph had only managed to look like a fish.

Of the two, Scott had a bigger mouth and found it easier to ask the harder questions. In Brandy's opinion, Ralph was the one with a conscience and the majority of their combined brains. At the moment, she wished she could have hit Scott over the head with a particularly large clump of snow or that Ralph had kept sitting on him.

Her mother looked horrified for a moment, then started laughing uncontrollably, "Sweet Merlin, you really are Fred's son." She exclaimed, continuing to laugh.

"Well? Are you?" Ralph demanded, no longer a fish-weasel.

Draco arched an eyebrow, "Don't make me dock points from Gryffindor for language." He threatened.

"Ha! So you _are_!" Scott exclaimed, pointing at Draco.

He got no response from the adults.

"Denial says it all." Ralph shook his head, looking at his twin.

"First step to recovery is admitting you have a problem." Scott said wisely, nodding at them but still talking to Ralph.

Brandy recognized their tactic. They often used it when they knew the answer, but wanted someone to confirm it. It usually worked, even on adults. They had even managed to use it on their infallible grandmother once. She saw Professor Malfoy's mouth twitch in response.

"Aha! The Malfoy twitch of admitting!" Ralph cried, pointing.

"We speak the truth!" Scott concluded, clapping his twin on the shoulder before marching away.

Brandy grinned impishly at her mother, who was still sitting in the snow and looking completely dishevelled. "You should've known they'd find out the moment it happened." She said brightly before following her cousins.

* * *

"I have to admit that I'm jealous, Bill," Seamus said impishly, looking the eldest Weasley in the eyes, "I've wanted to spend a night alone with Ginny for _years_. How come Malfoy gets all the fun?"

The Headmaster winced, "She's my sister, Seamus, please don't say that."

"Why? She's a nice little piece of work. I heard she's lots of fun in the-"

"Finish that sentence and you won't get to have such fun ever again." Bill said menacingly.

Seamus' eyes widened in horror, "You wouldn't!"

"Oh, I would," Bill assured him, his gaze steely, "She's my baby sister."

"Not as much of a baby as you think she is." Seamus growled, "She's had her fair share of boyfriends. But why _Malfoy_?"

"Because they work well together," Bill said, waving aside the matter.

Seamus bristled jealously. "Ginny and I work well together!"

"I need someone here to keep up the level of insanity and amusement." Bill told him, grinning.

"Cruel. Are you so lacking in humorous creativity that you need my pitiful genius to amuse you?" Seamus whined.

"You need to watch over Colin, anyways."

"Nothing's wrong with the boy. He's just like I was at that age." He said smoothly.

"That's the problem." Bill said sweetly.

"Mental, that's what you are." Seamus snapped.

"No, you are. Even without Ron around to hex you into next week, Ginny's still got the rest of us to watch over her and do that for him." Bill replied, then fell silent.

"Remember how they lived." Seamus told him encouragingly, his heart giving a painful twinge.

Bill smiled and patted his shoulder, "Come on, help me plan something fun for Easter." He urged.

Seamus needed no further provocation. He loved planning fun things for the students. He bounced along at the taller man's side, chatting animatedly about what they could do. Bill was rather good in Charms and Transfiguration and such things, so he could do what Ginny would have. So what if Easter was more than a month and a half away? He could have his fun. The magic dampener would be gone by then, after all.

* * *

Zoë rubbed her arms and shivered, "I don't see why half these corridors aren't heated." She told Dante.

"To save energy?" Dante offered.

Zoë rolled her eyes, "If you're talking about that eckeltricity stuff..."

"_Magical_ energy, Zoë," Her friend clarified, "Every spell takes a certain amount of magical energy. That's why this damper is so annoying; it lowers our ability to create magical energy and saps our physical energy."

Zoë had been watching a ghost go by.

Dante sighed, "And you didn't hear a word of that. Figures."

"Hmm?" Zoë asked, looking back at her, "Sorry, did you say something?"

"Never mind, let's just go visit her." Dante grumbled.

Zoë blinked. Why did Dante sound so irritated all of a sudden? Had she done something? Oh, right, she had not paid attention. _Oops._ She thought. Dante was rather touchy nowadays, a way that Zoë was very unused to seeing her. It was confusing, Dante never got angry or frustrated usually.

"You're worried about Zeph, aren't you?" She asked impulsively.

Dante nodded, "Of course, aren't you?"

"Yeah! But she'll be fine, Dawn. If she was getting worse, your uncle would have sent her to Hogsmeade with your Mum." Zoë said encouragingly.

Dante smiled slightly. "You're right, thanks Zoë."

"No problem." She answered, tucking her black hair behind an ear, "Hey! There's Liam and Xander! Liam! Xander!"

Dante winced at the pitch of her voice, but Zoë ignored that. Instead, she ran towards the boys who had just exited the hospital wing. They looked a little rough around the edges, like they had not been getting much sleep. When Dante looked hopefully at them, they both shook their heads.

"She's the same as ever." Liam murmured.

"She'll wake up as soon as Dethol fixes this." Zoë said confidently, "If she was getting any worse, Professor Weasley would move her to Hogsmeade, no?"

"But why are they keeping her here, then?" Liam demanded sharply.

Dante answered, "Professor Weasley knows that she sleeps only one hour a night since we got here. He would rather she get some rest here than go to Hogsmeade. Not to mention that she might be targeted by the Death Eaters, seeing as she's the daughter of two of their main foes."

Xander looked thoughtful, though Zoë dismissed that as a usual Xander-face. He was always thinking, just like Dante. Except not, because he was quieter and barely spoke. Not in the creepy remorseful way that James did, but in the thoughtfully quiet way Xander did. That was why he was Xander, after all. No one could be more like Xander than he could.

"It's March fourth, shouldn't Dethol have found them by now?" Liam asked quietly.

"Hey, that means I've been twelve for two months now." Zoë realized.

Dante elbowed her, "At least pretend to care about her, Zoë."

"I do care, Dawn, I just have the attention-span of a mosquito." She replied, "And, Liam, he had absolutely nothing to go on. We'll be lucky if he finds them before summer, if at all."

"Boy, aren't we a happy person." Natasha's dry sarcasm cut through their conversation.

"I just don't see why you guys are all so impatient. We knew it would take a while for him to find them, so why do we keep expecting Zephari to wake up any day now? If she does, we'll be told." She said rashly.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Zoë, shut it please. You're not being helpful." She ordered, though Zoë was not insulted by it.

Zoë stuck her tongue out yet obeyed. No one wanted to hear her opinion, fine. She would simply observe and stay quiet. Already her tongue was burning. She wanted to say something. But she had resolved not to. No, she would stick to her resolution. No more talking unless absolutely important.

This was going to be a long day, she realized.


	19. Dark Happiness

A/N: This chapter is all about the Slytherins. Don't ask me why, it just is.

* * *

Professor Snape stared into his pensieve. He had gone and purchased one after he had to borrow Dumbledore's when teaching Potter Occlumency thirty-four years ago. Too bad the boy had been completely hopeless at it. He braced himself with both hands on his desk, staring at the pearly depths.

A knock made him look up, as he had expected. How he loathed those who bothered him after hours. Even if they were Slytherins, after hours was _his_ time which he liked to spend _alone_. However, he had expected to be disturbed at this time even if he did not like it. He had organized it, after all.

"Come." He ordered.

The door creaked open and Kai Malfoy entered, followed closely by Kim Flint. He wondered briefly what had possessed Marcus Flint and Milicent Bulstrode to name their son such a feminine name. He already knew, however, that Kim was an accepted boy's name as well. Veronica Parkinson and Nora Flint arrived moments later.

"Sit." He ordered, motioning to the chairs in front of his desk.

They obeyed, staring at their Head of House in confusion. It was not too long after supper and a very odd time indeed for him to call them. He knew that. He took the pensieve and placed it in one of his cupboards. His gaze then returned to the four students.

"You are here because I have dire matters to discuss with you." He informed them in his normal drawl, "As of today, you will no longer be returning to the Parkinson manor; ever. I have become your guardian, Mr. and Miss Flint; and Miss Parkinson, you will be taken in by your father."

"Why?" Kim Flint demanded, while the other three gaped at him.

"Because, Mr. Flint, the Parkinson family has been deemed unable to care for you anymore," He said smoothly, sitting and gazing evenly at them over the burnished wood surface of his desk. "Since Professor Malfoy and I have opted to take residence in the Malfoy manor this summer, you four will not be parted."

"But that also means we'll all have to go to the Weasleys whenever you and Father decide to go." Kai growled sourly.

"Yes, it does, Mr. Malfoy." He said smoothly.

Veronica made a face, which made her appear about as attractive as her mother in her prime. She had some of Draco in her, which made her looks slightly nicer than average, but when she scowled she looked just as ugly as Pansy. Severus tried very hard not to tell her to stop doing so as it was unbecoming.

Nora was hiding in her lifeless black hair, scowling at him. It was odd that a match such as Marcus Flint and Milicent Bulstrode could result in such... normal looking children. Nora and Kim only looked supremely unattractive when they scowled. He vaguely wondered if the older Flints and Bulstrodes had done something to their son and daughter to completely ruin their appearance.

A moment later, he proceeded to wonder why he was so observant as to the children's appearances. Probably because he would have to live with them for the next six years or so, Merlin help him. Luckily Draco was a natural father as Severus was certain that he was not. He would try to hand off his responsibilities to the younger man whenever possible; he _loathed_children.

"Any more questions?" Severus asked smoothly.

They each looked like they had half a mind to say yes, but none of them dared to say so. They simply stared back defiantly. Eventually, Veronica and Nora looked down. Kai and Kim continued to glare, though Kim eventually gave in. Lastly, Kai broke their gaze to glance somewhere past his ear.

He nodded, "Very well, back to your dormitories." He ordered.

They scampered to meet his wishes.

* * *

Kai fumed as they walked back in the direction of the Slytherin common room. "There go all my hopes of having fun this summer." He muttered.

"At least you're somewhat used to seeing them over the holidays." Kim growled, "Why would they take us from our legal guardians?"

"I wouldn't have thought Snape would be all anti-Dark supporters." Veronica mused to herself.

"He's on the good side, idiot." Nora snapped, "He turned spy, just like Zabini, except Snape was a spy back during the First War."

"And Father refused the Mark when he was seventeen, but married Mother to get inside information. He got it, obviously, and us two from it." Kai growled.

"Don't you two have another brother?" Kim demanded.

"He's not our genetic brother, not that I know of." Kai muttered.

"He's ten months older than me." Veronica added, "But I bet that Mother would have told me that I had a brother who was born on September third, since my birthday is August third."

"Exactly ten months? Quite a coincidence," Nora muttered.

"Exactly." Kai agreed, "And I would remember him being born, as Father kept commenting on how annoying Mother was when I was born."

A silence fell as they stood staring at each other outside the common room.

"Pureblood pride." Kai muttered to the wall, walking past it into the babbling common room.

Nora and Kim both looked horribly pissed. However, Veronica looked slightly happy. Kai glared at his sister, his irritation bubbling to the surface with lightning speed.

"Why do you look so happy?" He demanded.

Veronica looked a little sheepish, "I've never met Father as well... my father, not Professor Malfoy." She admitted.

"He's not that great. He favours Sirius, though I guess that's because _he_'s never been into the Dark Arts." Kai informed her waspishly.

"Easy for you to say, you've had a father and a mother in your life." Veronica growled.

"Ooh, wow, three years with a mother and the rest with someone who's my father purely due to genetics." Kai muttered. "Lucky me."

Veronica slapped him. He stared at her, feeling a red mark grow on his cheek when she had hit it. She was a strong little girl, stronger than some in his year or above. He also found it rather ironic that his little sister was the first female to slap him across the face, when he had annoyed so many others and been around said others so much longer.

"What was that for?" He demanded, rubbing his cheek.

"For being an insufferable prat and complete arse," She snapped, "At least you got to spend time with Mother."

"Yeah, before she got sent off to Azkaban." He answered sourly.

She slapped him again.

"What was that for?" He snarled, rubbing his other cheek now.

"Same thing." She growled, "You'll treat me with respect, _Brother_, or I'll keep trying to slap some sense into you."

He glared at her. No Malfoy had to take orders from a girl. His father had told him as much, as he had never taken nonsense from Kai's mother. But respecting a girl? He supposed he had to do that. But if she got in the way... she would not get any respect then.

"Fine, _Sister_, but if you slap me again I'll hex you." He growled, "You'll respect me too."

Nora and Kim had watched this entire scene play itself out with no small amount of amusement. The boys bid good-bye to the girls as the latter pair headed up to their room.

"I can't believe Veronica _slapped_ you." Kim chortled.

"I'll hex you if you say that again." Kai growled, making the younger boy's laughter stop abruptly.

* * *

Sora glanced up from the photo album when the other two returned from Professor Snape's office. "So... That went well, I suppose." She drawled, closing the heavy book.

"If you consider having to live with him and Professor Malfoy from now on a good thing," Nora muttered with a scowl.

"Ouch." Sora observed, smirking.

"Don't you smirk at us." Nora growled.

"Watch me." Sora countered, "You can't order me around, Nora."

Torrence arched an eyebrow, "She has a point, you know."

Katherine looked over the edge of her parchment roll, having been working on their latest Potions essay before the other two barged back in. Sora noted that Katherine and Torrence were both rather irritated with the mouthy Flint. Veronica was an almost constant irritation, but Nora was the worst of the pair. Sora knew that she was not the only one who wished Veronica was a little more like she had heard Draco Malfoy had been when he was young.

She looked back down at her photo album, looking at the smiling face of her father. He had married a Slytherin girl a few years below him, but she had been killed when Sora was nothing more than five years old by a vengeful Lucius Malfoy. It appeared his two year stay in Azkaban, as he had been freed by a group of Death Eaters, had made him bent on revenge on anyone against Voldemort.

She touched the face of her mother, Yonsa, who was beaming up at her. She smiled slightly in return, her gaze falling on her younger brother. His name had been Flayme. She did not know what had happened to him when the Death Eaters came. She knew a part of her hoped he would come to Hogwarts the next year. She also knew that he was probably dead too.

"What are you looking at?" Nora asked nosily.

Sora closed the book with a snap. "Nothing," She snapped irritably.

"Obviously it's _something_." Nora persisted.

"It doesn't concern you, Flint, so keep your nose out of my business if you want to keep it attached to your face." She snapped, brushing her black hair off her shoulders so that she could fix Nora with her green-eyed glare.

"Fine, be that way." The other girl said huffily.

"Gladly," Sora muttered, opening the album again.

Four year-old Flayme stared up at her from the page. His slightly coppery face was creased into a smile. Their mother had had skin darker than chocolate, but their father had been pale. So, she and Flayme were a creamy copper colour. He had the same eyes as she did, their mother's eyes, but their black hair was their father's. Their eyes, however, were like no others; a pale, near grey, green that was horribly creepy when used in a glare.

Torrence moved to Sora's bed suddenly and she closed the photo album with less irritation. She and Torrence were as close as sisters, though they were not related. Torrence's mother had had her extremely late in her life; most had thought she could not have children by then. But Bellatrix had managed it and Torrence was identical to her in appearance. In temperament, however, she was complementary to Sora.

"You've got one too?" Torrence asked, motioning to the cover of the album which had the Zabini family crest.

"I thought my family was the only one." Sora told her, her curiosity aroused.

Torrence returned to her bed and pulled a similar book from underneath the mattress. She opened it to the first page which had a sneering witch and wizard on it. Torrence winced slightly at the image and Sora did so as well, though in sympathy. Unlike her family, which had never supported Voldemort since her parents had gotten married, Torrence's family was very much full of dark supporters.

"Those are my parents," Torrence whispered needlessly, "Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, now dead and in graves. It serves them right, actually, the slimeballs."

Sora noticed the lack of gauntness in their features, "Before Azkaban?" She asked.

Torrence nodded, "It's an old picture, amazing that it was still in such good condition when they found it in the pits of the manor."

Sora flipped her book open to the first page, which had a similar image. "My parents, Yonsa and Blaise Zabini," She murmured, "Murdered."

Torrence gave her a small smile, "But they were on the good side, they fought well." She whispered.

Sora nodded, "I just wonder where my brother is." She admitted.

"You have a brother?" Torrence asked with surprise.

Sora flipped to the picture she had been staring at before, "That's the most recent picture I have of him. I have no idea what happened to him when Mother was killed. I managed to get out of the house, but I have no idea what happened to him..."

"I thought you were born after the war." Torrence said suddenly.

"Nope, I was born on October fifth." Sora answered, looking down into her brother's eyes, "He was born September fourth."

"How does that work? Nine months after October, when your father was killed, is July." Torrence observed.

"He was a very late baby." Sora admitted, "They nearly thought he was stillborn but Mother had been two months late as well."

Torrence nodded, "So he would have just missed the cut-off."

Sora smiled fondly at his picture, "His name is Flayme, because Father picked it." She told Torrence.

The other girl smiled, "You're lucky to have a brother."

Sora would have retorted, but Torrence was flipping pages in her album. She finally found the one she wanted, at the end, apparently tucked in at the last minute. It had four young men in it, none of which Sora could name but two of which looked familiar. It was obviously a very old copy of an even older picture.

"This is Sirius Black, my uncle," Torrence told her, pointing at the tallest man with a wide grin and slightly shaggy black hair, "with his best friends James Potter," the man with glasses and untidy black hair, "Remus Lupin," the scrawny man with odd scars on his exposed skin, "and Peter Pettigrew." She indicated the chubby man with a dreamy smile.

"Why are you showing me this?" Sora asked curiously.

"Sirius went on to be a murderer, though he was actually cleared as it was Peter who had killed those thirteen people," Torrence continued, ignoring her, "James was blasted to pieces by Voldemort and Remus died fighting alongside the good, despite the fact that he was a werewolf.

"Sirius's daughter, whom he never knew as her mother was just one of his random hook-ups when he was drunk, died fighting on Voldemort's side, James's son died fighting Voldemort and brought him down with him and Remus's son was murdered for his father being a werewolf before he turned seventeen." Torrence continued, "Now Sirius's daughter had a son through a random hook-up of her own. Who with is only known to her, her son and the father of her child, though he was probably drunk as well. That son, Sirius's grandson, died fighting against Lucius Malfoy. That was Zephari's father."

"And the point of this lengthy, though interesting, tirade is?" Sora asked.

"All those good people who have ever had anything to do with my family end up dead. Most of the bad ones too," Torrence growled. "So, obviously, I'm doomed as well."

"Don't talk like that, Tor. If everyone thought they were doomed because of familial history, then everyone would die. Look at my family! Hell, look at just about any family." Sora snapped.

Torrence nodded reluctantly, "True," She admitted.

"Cheer up; the bad times have almost passed." Sora encouraged.

Torrence nodded yet again, "So, what will we do this summer?"

Sora grinned. She and Torrence had been living together under the watchful eyes of Sora's aunt, Aysha, since her mother's death. Before then, Torrence had been raised by her disowned cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. Sora knew that she had often played with Zephari when the two were children. However, Torrence had left before Zephari came to live permanently in the Weasley-Tonks household.

"I was thinking..." She began, smirking devilishly.

* * *

"How can you not be worried, Bill?" Severus asked.

"I am, Severus, I just hide it." The Headmaster told him, running his hands through his hair, "He's been gone four months. Hogwarts will close this summer if we cannot find a way to reverse it."

"Luckily we sent the students with Ministry-led exams to do some practical studying in Hogsmeade." Severus observed.

Bill looked at his co-worker, "Indeed. This way they will pass their exams. I will, of course, cancel all other exams due to lack of teaching. We'll all have to work twice as hard next year to teach them what they should know."

"Wonderful," Severus said in a tone that clearly said it was not.

"Cheer up, Severus, I believe Dethol will find them." Bill said firmly. "He has motive to, after all."

"And we all know how dangerous he is when he has the right motive." The potions master said quietly.

Bill looked at him sharply. "We all can be dangerous when angered." He told the Slytherin Head of House.

Severus did not respond.

"Even if he is not completely sane, I trust him." Bill finished, his tone indicating that the conversation was over.

When Severus had left his office, Bill stared out the window of his office. "Come on, Dethol," He murmured to himself, hearing murmurs of the same kind from the portraits around the room, including Dumbledore's.


	20. Saving the World

Dethol had found it rather easy to find the Death Eaters. They did not go unnoticed with their black ensembles and masks, not to mention the trail of destruction they left behind them. He had half-expected it to take various months to find them. It had, just less months than he had thought. He had left in early January and had caught onto them in March.

_The students will have a hard time with their exams this year..._ He mused, _It's now April, that's four months without proper classes. I hope Bill had the sense to assign them homework even without classes. That way they can pass the theory parts rather well. And, if I find those bastards and succeed, we should have one or two months to practice the practical parts._

"Who are you?" A nearby voice demanded.

_What? Oh... Damn. There aren't usually any other people in deserted mountains in the springtime are there?_ His tired brain thought.

"Christopher McKarn," He said in his thickest Irish accent, "Wonderful woods, aye? With the snow and terrain and all; m'da an' I used t'come up 'ere an' camp for weeks on end when I was a lad."

"You had better turn around." He heard Lucius Malfoy suggest.

"Oh, c'mon, Lucius, he's just a Muggle!" Another, Theodore Nott Senior, hissed.

"That name... It sounds familiar..." The junior murmured.

"It's a Muggle name, so who cares?" Senior snapped.

"Whasser Muggle?" Dethol demanded, every bit the cranky Irish traveller.

Nott Junior and Senior looked at Malfoy for permission. Dethol was looking them all over curiously. Draco had made a list of all his father's most commonly worn possessions. Knowing that the Malfoys were typical Slytherins, he probably would have the key in the shape of a jewel. The potion maker and spell caster got to choose what shape to have the key be in. Unfortunately, he saw nothing amiss.

"Fine, have your fun with him." Lucius sneered, taking an emerald stone out of his pocket.

_Ha, there it is. Of course a Slytherin git like him would have it as a rich emerald. Pretty big, must be easy to smash. One Reductor Curse... Yes, that ought to do it._ Dethol thought, not even worried about reliving what many said was the cause of his madness.

He was gripped by two living boulders – Crabbe and Goyle junior, as the seniors were in Azkaban – and dragged through the woods. "Hey! Whatter you two blokes doin', eh?" He demanded indignantly.

All the Death Eaters were in the camp, he could tell. All men, as well, Dethol smirked. No wonder they were so cranky! Sexual tension could do so to people. Hopefully they were not desperate enough to use him...

"Ooh, a toy, Lucius?" Zabini senior asked, standing and smirking.

"_Crucio_." Lucius said, pointing his wand at Dethol.

Pain, white hot pain, shot through Dethol. He screamed. It felt good to scream. Last time he had tried not to scream. This time he could scream all he wanted. He could scream as old bruises began to ache, mental doors were opened to what he had forced himself to forget. He screamed as he shook with sheer pain, feeling as if his entire being were going to be ripped apart.

Lucius lowered his wand and Dethol crumpled at his feet. He twitched as memories he had long tried to suppress flew back to him. Memories that were too painful... they were even worse than the Cruciatus Curse itself. He moaned and closed his eyes tightly. No, not the memories, the curse was much better than the memories.

"_Imperio_." Nott commanded.

If there was anything worse than pain and the memories, it was a blank mind with which to experience them.

_He was fifteen and crouching in the mud. He was holding someone in his arms. The body, a mere fragile shell of what she had once been. He sobbed as he stroked her face, framed with wonderful blonde hair. She was beautiful, even in death. He clutched her to him, willing for her open blue eyes to show life again. He ran a hand over her cheek._

"_Marissa," He moaned, shaking her, "Marissa, wake up! Please wake up!"_

He heard laughter and realized that he was hanging from a tree in his boxers, held up by his trousers which were wrapped around his feet. He must have done all sorts of amusing things under the Imperius Curse. He tried to get his trousers back on, knowing it would amuse them. The more amusing he was, the better. He would be able to live longer.

He had learned back when he was fifteen that the Imperius Curse did not have the same effect on him as it did on others. It did not make him happy; it did not make him float in a world of bliss and obedience. It had that effect on him a grand total of once, before the killings began. Ever since then, he had only re-experienced the most awful moments of his life instead of bliss.

He managed to untangle his trousers and fell to the ground with a thud. The tree had been slightly high up. It had hurt to fall from there. He moaned aloud, hearing more laughter, before pulling them up and belting them again. He lay there, panting, as they fought for who got to torture him next.

He did not know who won, he did not care. He felt pain again. Excruciating pain coupled with Marissa's screaming voice. He whined and writhed before being wrapped in the Imperius Curse again.

"_Dethol!" A pretty girl screeched, pointing her wand behind him, "Stupefy!"_

_The Death Eater that had been about to kill, torture or control the already weakened fifth year crumpled to the ground with a thud; Dethol looked gratefully up at her in time to see the flash of green light. "No!" He had shouted, lunging at the Death Eater._

Hearty guffaws of laughter met his return to consciousness. He did not care what he had done. He simply writhed weakly before another round of pain began.

"_Going to kill me, boy?" The Death Eater demanded._

_He faced him, reddish blond hair dangling in front of his eyes. Marissa had liked his long hair. He pointed his wand at the man's chest. The idiot was laughing. He would be forever guilty and regretful._

"_Avada Kedavra!" The boy cried._

He was too weak to hear, too weak to care.

"_I can't believe you killed Rodolphus Lestrange..." Athen whispered to him over a cup of tea._

_He stared blearily at his friend, "Marissa..." He moaned._

"_I understand your pain, Dethol, but you need to pull yourself together! Life goes on!" The man snarled over his cup._

"_Not for me." He muttered._

"_Then live on for Zephari. You're Lily's best friend so, as her daughter, she will always look to you for guidance."_

Dethol's eyes snapped open despite the pain. Zephari. He was here to save Zephari. His eyes fixed on Lucius, who was stroking the emerald and staying out of the fun. He was obsessed, mad. The ex-Ravenclaw reached for his wand while pretending to twitch in the after-effects of his newest round of torture. He touched it and slowly slid it out of his sleeve.

"We could keep him around for a few days, Lucius," Nott Senior was offering, "Have a little fun with him, you know."

"Do whatever you wish." The Malfoy said dismissively.

"I want to have a go!" Crabbe exclaimed suddenly.

"You? You'll probably kill him by accident!" Zabini Senior snapped.

He counted the Death Eaters. Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Nott, Zabini and Malfoy; there were six. If he had not allowed himself to be so tortured, he probably could have beaten them. As it was, he had only one shot. They were distracted, so now was his chance.

He whipped out his wand, took aim and muttered, "_Reducto_!"

The emerald blasted out of Lucius's hands and shattered.

"What the?" The others demanded.

Dethol tucked his wand back in his sleeve while they stared in the direction of the shattered emerald.

"A wizard?" Zabini demanded.

"Of course! You remember Christopher McKarn, he killed Rodolphus!" Nott Junior exclaimed.

Senior's voice indicated thought, "Isn't he in St. Mungo's?"

"Obviously not," Dethol snapped, struggling to his feet, "But he's a nutter, alright. How could he not? He killed someone when he was _fifteen_. Actually, he killed a few. Rodolphus Lestrange, Blaise Zabini, Narcissa Malfoy, Mrs. Nott, Graham Pritchard..."

"You can't be him, you don't look at all like him!" Goyle snapped.

"Good to know." Dethol growled, clenching his fists, "But you can't control Hogwarts anymore."

"We'll just do that again." Lucius sneered.

Dethol gripped his wand near the end, happy he had thought to wear such long sleeves.

"Yeah, how are you going to do to stop us?" Nott Junior sneered.

"He's obviously not McKarn, if he were we'd all be dead." Senior growled.

Dethol lifted his arm and pointed at Zabini. "_Avada Kedavra_." He snarled.

The indicated target dropped dead.

"You've done it now, you're as good as sent to Azkaban!" Crabbe said gleefully.

"So're you." Dethol replied, "I've killed in self defence, you haven't."

He blanched. "We should leave, Lucius." He said suddenly.

"Aww, is little Vincent scared that the mean Mudblood's going to kill him?" Dethol sneered.

"Yes, we should." Lucius replied and with five cracks they vanished.

Dethol fell back and leaned against a tree. He cast a Disillusionment Spell on himself and wrapped his cloak around him. He brought his knees up to his chest, resting his head on them.

"_Dethol!" A pretty girl – _his_ pretty girlfriend – screeched and pointed at the Death Eater approaching him from behind, "Stupefy!"_

_He looked up, still shaking from the latest Cruciatus Curse. The Death Eater keeled over and fell stiff to the ground. Dethol looked back at her only to see a flash of green light and her crumpling to the ground. "NO!" He screamed, lunging at the Death Eater._

_The man laughed cruelly. "Going to kill me... _boy_?" The man scoffed._

_He faced the man, his eyes flashing dangerously. His hair hung in front of his eyes, but he did not really need to aim. He would kill everyone around him if he got just that one Death Eater; the one bastard that had taken his Marissa. Screw the fact that he would earn a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Screw the fact that he would be doomed to misery for the rest of his days; that was already ensured._

"_Avada Kedavra!" He cried._

_The flash of green light that sprung from the end of his wand went straight for the man. bHe fell back and his mask fell off. Rodolphus Lestrange. He had killed one of Athen's distant relatives. Another Death Eater realized what had happened. He approached, wand in front of him._

"_How dare you, you filthy Mudblood!" He had yelled at the boy._

_But the boy simply smirked smugly at him, "I dare." He said simply, levelling his wand at him, "He killed my Marissa."_

_That was the end of Graham Pritchard._

_From then, he had gone on a rampage. He killed anyone wearing a Death Eater mask, or that he knew to be associated with a Death Eater. Narcissa Malfoy had come at him with a stunner, which had missed, and had died for it. Mrs. Nott had tried to kill him, but he got to her first. Blaise Zabini had tried to stun him, but his green curse of death had hit him first._

_He had gone into a madness that no one could control. He later frightened himself as he lay awake and remembered it all. As it was, he ran around the field killing and stunning. After Blaise Zabini, he mostly switched to stunner; which was lucky for them, as he hit a few who were openly on the good side with his powerful stunning blows._

"_Christopher!" Someone yelled as the battle fever was leaving him._

_He whirled, pointing his wand straight at the chest of the person approaching him. All those openly against Voldemort had been wearing a bright red. This one was wearing such a bright colour. But he was not fully sane. He never would be ever again, but at the moment he still had the animal blood lust pulsing in his veins._

"_Dethol, snap out of it!" The eighteen year old cried, shoving aside his wand tip to shake his shoulders._

"_Athen..." He breathed. "They... They killed Marissa."_

"_I know, I know, Dethol." His friend replied, tears running down his dirt-marked cheeks, "They got Lily as well."_

"_Marissa..." He murmured, not paying attention to his friend._

_He ran across the field, searching through the bodies. The ground was completely made of mud, mixed with blood. Spells had destroyed what there had been in the area to start with. One area was charred completely black. He walked up to it and stared at the perfect circle._

"_Harry and Voldemort duelled there." Athen told him, having followed, "They incinerated each other in unison when their wands refused to work. Even the web of light failed as they duelled."_

_The boy nodded slightly and walked away from it, going to the place where Marissa had fallen. He fell to his knees beside her and pulled her into his arms. He felt tears fall down his cheeks as racking sobs shook him. His tears fell onto her face as he held her._

_He stroked her face, her cheeks and her eyelids. She was so beautiful, even in death. His Marissa; they had only been together a year and he had wanted their relationship to last forever. So had she. He moaned in pain and moved her lovely blond hair from her face, not noticing the mud all over her. She looked so pretty. Her blue eyes looked like they could have sparked with life at any moment._

"_Marissa," He called, shaking her, "Marissa, wake up."_

_He shook her again, uselessly. He knew he looked pitiful, crouched there and holding her broken shell. Her carcass, her corpse; once a vessel for such a vibrant and intelligent mind, now shattered and fallen to the ground; she was unmarred by the battle, having been a devious witch. She had been in Ravenclaw, with him, nothing but a year above._

_She had told him that she wanted to be an Auror. He had asked her not to so she would not risk her life but he had respected her when she asked him not to ask her that. Everyone had said they were the cutest couple, a match made in heaven. Slightly eccentric Muggleborn Christopher McKarn with deviously bizarre Marissa Coburn; they had been destined to last._

"_Marissa..." He whispered, holding her stiffening body against his. "Don't be gone..."_

"_She won't wake, Dethol." Athen said firmly._

_The boy screeched in inarticulate rage, placing her gently on the ground and grabbing the elder by the collar, holding him so that he could not move. He shook the older boy, yelling all sorts of curses and obscenities at him. Athen had taken his wand when he had seen what kind of a state he was in, which was good as he yelled the killing curse more than once._

"_She's not dead!" He howled finally, letting go of Athen and collapsing against him. "She's not! She can't be!"_

_His friend patted him on the back and supported him as he howled out his sorrows. People who had looked scornfully down at him and her as a doomed relationship for beginning so soon realized then just how much he had loved her. It was a rare thing to see someone so young, let alone a young man, howling out his grief as he clung to a friend's shirt for support. The friend, however, had no more tears to spill._

_The next few days passed in a blur. He was sent to live with Athen as he tried to recover. He was then sent to St. Mungo's for treatment. They tried a Memory Charm on him and it was weak enough for him to be able to completely forget his social life. He changed his name then, to Dethol na N'ataya, as his friends had begun calling him in school._

_Weeks later, he sat at Athen's clean kitchen table. They both had circles under their eyes from their lack of sleep. Not just because they were each mourning their counterparts, their partners and their other halves but because Athen's baby daughter often woke screaming in the night._

"_I can't believe that you killed Rodolphus Lestrange..." Athen murmured, looking down at his cup of tea._

_This brought on another wave of pain for him. Dethol moaned and sipped at his cup, nearly choking from the sudden deluge of hot liquid into his throat. He looked blearily at his friend, knowing that he had started crying again._

"_Marissa..." He moaned, drinking again and wishing it was something he could get drunk off of._

"_I understand your pain, Dethol, but you need to pull yourself together! Life goes on!" Athen snapped, obviously completely irritated with his guest._

"_Not for me." The boy had growled, finishing his cup and pouring himself some more with steady hands._

"_Then live on for Zephari. You're Lily's best friend so, as her daughter, she will always look to you for guidance." Athen snapped._

_He had sighed, drinking what was left of his cup._

"_Come on, you have your next appointment today." Athen said suddenly, standing._

"_Thank Godric." He whispered, following._

* * *

A/N: This section – the flashback, mainly – was sort of inspired by the song Only One by Yellowcard, which I managed to catch the end of as I reached the end of the longer flashback.


	21. Far From Forever

Zephari knew she had been in a comatose state for months. She could not explain how she knew this, but her conscious mind was traveling in numerous dreams and memories. She somehow managed to delve beyond the reaches of memory to find her earliest possible thoughts and sights. She had seen her mother in her dreams.

When the coma lifted, she struggled against it. She knew her body would die soon, so she could see her mother and father again. She knew that a part of her was fighting to live, but another was doing quite the opposite.

"_No, Zephari, go back."_ A quiet female voice said in her ears, _"Go back to your friends."_

"Mum?" Zephari murmured.

"_Go join your friends, hun. We'll have an eternity together someday, but not now."_ Her mother told her.

"I miss you, Mum." She mumbled sleepily.

"_And I miss you too, Zephari. Remember that your father and I love you very much, but you cannot come join us yet. You have a life to live."_ The kind voice rolled through her mind.

"Dethol misses you." She murmured, knowing it was true.

"_Yes, he would... Take care of him for us, Zephari. You're all that he has left."_ Her mother said, her voice fading.

"Don't leave me Mum!" Zephari cried, reaching out with a hand so as to grab a hold of the disembodied voice.

"_I'm always with you. Be nice to everyone and take care of your cousins and Dethol."_ Her mother whispered.

"I love you Mum." Zephari murmured, sinking into her first natural sleep for months.

* * *

Dethol did not want to wake up. He was having a nice dream, far away from the world of reality and the pain it caused. Of course, dreams did not come without hallucinations that one thought was true. Sometimes the hallucinations were as painful as the reality; for sometimes one knew they were simply that: hallucinations. Therefore, they were false.

"I'm dreaming." He murmured as soon as he saw Marissa standing before him.

He knew this for a fact as she was not the girl Marissa he had known when he was in school but a Marissa as she would be if she still lived. A Marissa who had grown out of the teenage body most women had at one point, all elbows and knees with only a hint of the curves to come later. He moaned and leaned his head back against the tree he was still leaning against.

"Make it stop... This is isn't real. Let me go... Let me move on..." He pleaded.

"_No, Dethol, I won't let you move on as you think of it. I won't let you die."_ She retorted sharply in the same tone as she always used to when he was being unreasonable, _"Your friends need you. I let Christopher die eleven years ago; I won't let Dethol go as well."_

"It's my life." He growled, completely pained by her unreal presence.

"_People still need you."_ She answered.

He closed his eyes, unable to look at her.

"_I know it hurts, Deth... but you have to go back. You're all one little girl has left."_ She told him, _"Stop pining for me, I'm gone. You're still alive, live your life."_

"I can't." He said through gritted teeth.

He felt her move closer to him and her breath on his face. He tried to ignore it, tried to forget the few memories he had of her. They had never done anything more than kiss... but he felt that when he so much looked at another woman he was betraying her.

"_Look at me, Deth."_ She commanded.

He obeyed. She had always been a commanding force, a dominant part of his life. Most thought she was the one that 'wore the pants in their relationship' and they were rather right. But she had been gone for eleven years, leaving him to flail helplessly about in a skirt.

"_I'm gone. I'm not coming back. In another life, perhaps we were together, but you have to move on. People are counting on you to do so."_ She placed a finger over his lips to silence his protest, _"If you won't stay for them, then fine, die. Waste away what Lily and I gave for you and others to enjoy."_

He suddenly felt guilty, "Marissa..." He faltered, "I'm not ungrateful, I just..."

"_I wouldn't trade places with you if I could, Deth. You would be even more miserable trying to be my guide in your after-life."_ She cut him off.

"I don't believe in after-lives." He grumbled.

"_Which is why you'd be miserable,"_ She pointed out, _"Either way, I won't let you waste your life away pining. I _order_ you to get off your pining arse and do something."_

"Controlling woman," He muttered, looking her in the eyes.

"_So you had better not deceive me. I _will_ become a ghost and stalk you if I have to."_ He smiled slightly at that, this apparition of his own imagination was just like he remembered her when she was alive, _"Now, go back to the world of the living."_

"Yes ma'am." He whispered, closing his eyes sleepily.

"_Don't let a high school romance keep you from living your adult life."_ She whispered as he drifted away, _"I'll always love you, Dethol... but I can't keep you just to myself."_

He smiled slightly. That was not at all what she had said back when they were in school. She had told him that he was hers, no question about it, and any other girl who wanted him would have to fight her tooth and nail. How naïve they had been back then...

* * *

Zephari stirred from her sleep. She felt her eyelids flutter and opened her eyes to stare around the hospital wing. Fuzzy glimpses of the past few months chased each other around her mind. She saw a clutter of worried people near the door, slowly advancing and becoming clearer. She recognized them in a few seconds and smiled slightly.

"Zephari?" Zoë asked, sounding and looking completely shocked.

"You're awake!" Dante cried.

Before Zephari could protest, as she was rather weak from not having properly eaten in months, they both grabbed her in a hug. She noticed she had been hooked up to something muggles called an IV, which had been putting nutrients straight into her blood stream. Not really wanting to protest, she hugged them back slightly.

"How do you feel?" Liam asked worriedly, his face swimming into clarity.

"Starving," She admitted, "And like I've slept enough for the rest of my life."

"You've been out for four months." Natasha informed her.

"I'll go get Madam Patil." Xander said eagerly, beaming at her before running off.

The others, all her house- and year-mates with the exception of Abe and James, sat on and around her bed. Zoë, Dante and Natasha filled her in on what had happened in the months since she had fallen asleep. Dethol had gone off to fix everything – and had succeeded as she was awake and no longer feeling sick – while the fifth and seventh years had gone to Hogsmeade with Ginny and Draco so they could prepare for their Ministry-enforced examinations.

Madam Patil arrived halfway through their re-telling and examined Zephari with polite questions and minor physical examinations. When they finished, however, she wasted no time in ushering them out and closing the curtains. She then gave Zephari a full physical examination.

The girl tried very hard not to fidget as Madam Patil continued her examination. She wanted to be proclaimed healthy, get the muggle thing out of her arm and go eat the supper feast. Her internal clock, which was never off, told her the feast would soon be laid out for her starving stomach to feast on; with the help of her hands and cutlery – though it would be mighty tempting to forgo the cutlery – to help it travel from plate to mouth, obviously.

"What time is it?" Zephari asked curiously as her pulse was checked for the thousandth time.

"Supper should be ready within the hour," Madam Patil informed her, then moved on to examine her lungs again, "Breathe in."

Zephari rolled her eyes and obeyed. She had a large amount of patience for Healers, as she had been raised to always listen to them. After what seemed like ages of pampering and prodding, she began to get annoyed.

"Madam Patil, you've checked my pulse thirty-three times and checked my lungs twenty-four." She said exasperatedly, "Can you get this muggle contraption out of my arm and let me go, already?"

The matron's lips pursed either in irritation or amusement as she obliged. "You're good to go as soon as you drink this." She commanded.

Zephari downed the potion in one gulp and pulled on her school uniform before dashing out through the curtain. She had not gone two steps out the infirmary door before she was grabbed in a hug by Dante, Zoë, Natasha, Annabelle and – to her surprise – the boys as well. She squirmed good-naturedly and managed to get free.

"Don't take advantage of my weak state!" She chided with a devilish grin.

Liam and Xander looked amused, Natasha looked smug, Annabelle looked happy, Dante and Zoë were obviously blissfully happy and Nathaniel looked surprised that he had hugged a girl.

"I'm hungry, let's go to supper early." She said brightly.

* * *

"Dethol!" A voice called through the woods.

Dethol cringed inwardly. His obsessive self was irritated with them for having scared away any strange magical creature in the area. The practical part of him was annoyed they had taken so long to find him. He had been lying there for a week, living off of the food the Death Eaters had left behind and dodging the body of Zabini senior, which was beginning to smell something awful.

He held up his wand and let off a bright beam of light to guide them, as his throat was still raw from screaming when the Cruciatus Curse had been employed. He seriously doubted that he was as sane as he had been before, which was not very. He was also seriously considering going to St. Mungo's for another round of Memory Charms to suppress all the old memories that had arisen once again.

The face of Charlie Weasley was one he had never expected to see again. When he saw the dragon-researcher closely followed by the rest of the older Weasleys, he nearly leapt for joy. However, he was still in a state of severe pain whenever he moved. With no adrenaline to guide him, he simply smiled weakly at them.

"Took your own ruddy time, didn't you?" He muttered.

Charlie chuckled and crouched beside him while Tonks, Wynifred, Samantha, Samuel, Harry, and Albus went to Zabini's body. Angelina and Alicia knelt on either side of him, both trained Mediwitches now that their Quidditch careers were over. Dethol did as they bid, suffering through their check-ups and trying very hard not to think of what the collection of Aurors would discover about Zabini's death.

Tonks turned and looked him straight in the eyes. He stared back, knowing his gaze was hooded and tortured. She sighed visibly and shook her head before turning back to Zabini's body. They would bury the body in the grounds of Azkaban, where the bastard belonged. His grandchildren had no reason to witness his burial and already believed him to be dead.

Charlie had looked at his wife at the same time, then back at Dethol with a now guarded look. Dethol sighed. They knew about his past all too well. They were slightly mad to think that there would never be a reoccurrence. Once a murderer, always a murderer, they said. He had just proved that as true, had he not?

"He was killed with _Avada Kedavra_. Probably out of nowhere as there are no other signs of hexes or curses on him," Wynifred announced.

Dethol looked away from Angelina's stern gaze despite her best attempts to keep his gaze locked on her own as she examined his pupils. He could not meet her eyes. He would never be able to meet anyone's eyes ever again, especially if they had trusted him before. He gave a slight sigh and shoved himself to his feet, ignoring Angelina and Alicia's attempts to keep him sitting.

"I killed him." He grunted, "Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and both Nott's lack the talent to make a potion as complex as a Dampening Draught, let alone connect it to a key. Zabini was the brains of the outfit and he gave Malfoy the key to guard."

"You realize what this means, right, Dethol?" Albus asked with a heavy sigh.

"Same thing it did last time." Dethol growled, "It was in self-defence and to save the life of a little girl trapped in a coma, you'll say. Everyone will believe you, of course, as very few know who I used to be. You'll say I don't belong in Azkaban, but I do."

"You used an Unforgivable Curse." Harry reminded him.

"I've done so before." He added sharply, earning twitches from them all, "It's only natural for me to do so again. I'm unhinged and I should probably be locked up in Azkaban for the rest of my days. Once a murderer, always a murderer,"

"You can't be serious!" Angelina exclaimed, glaring at him.

Dethol raised an eyebrow, "Everything I just said is true, Angelina, and you know it."

"You are _not_ going to Azkaban." Charlie snapped; standing and grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Dad, he's used an Unforgivable Curse..." Wynifred began.

"In self-defence," Charlie cut her off.

"He still used the curse!" Wynifred countered.

"Can we prove that?" Samantha cut them both off.

"_Priori incantatem_ won't work, seeing as he used that light spell for us to find him." Samuel answered his twin.

"So we have no proof." Charlie said with finality.

Dethol swayed on his feet and both women grabbed him and supported him to the ground. He hissed with pain and allowed them to ease him into a sitting position. However, he was determined to have his say in the matter.

"Just lock me up and save yourself the trouble." He grumbled, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the vehement protests of his muscles.

Before he realized what had happened, his cheek was hurting vehemently and three pairs of female eyes were glaring at him. He growled low in his throat, feeling rather moody at the moment. Why did women tend to slap men to make them pay attention? How did they manage to look so unruffled by it when they were naturally not violent?

"Bloody hell," He snapped, glaring back at them.

"You will _not_ go to Azkaban, Dethol." Angelina hissed, "Not while we have a say in the matter."

"If you think we'll let you abandon Zephari so easily, you're very wrong." Alicia added.

"So you might as well suck it up and stop saying we should lock you up." Tonks finished, "Because we're keeping you free no matter _what_ you say!"

Dethol grumbled, "Don't slap me again and I'll keep my mouth shut."

They were all beginning to look fuzzy around the edges. He saw Samuel, Samantha, Harry and Albus Apparate with Zabini's body to the last place on Earth he wanted to be. Obviously aware of his slipping into unconsciousness, the three women and Charlie Apparated him away to somewhere safe; somewhere that was Hogwarts or, more precisely, the hospital wing of Hogwarts.

* * *

Zephari twiddled her thumbs idly in the chair beside the slumbering Dethol. Certain parts of him – his hands, his feet, parts of his face – were wrapped in bandages. The Death Eaters had done horrible things to him. Madam Patil doubted he would ever be the same again. The girl had fought back tears when she was told as much and she was doing so yet again as she watched his battered body.

"Don't cry, Zephari," A croaking ghost of his voice whispered.

She looked up, sniffing, as a bandaged hand wiped away her tears gently. His battered face was creased with a weak smile and his eyes had some of their former gleam back in them. His reddish blond hair was a tangled mess around his face and he was unshaven, the beginnings of a beard across his chin, and she knew he would take care of his haggard appearance as soon as possible.

"I missed you." She told him truthfully.

Dethol smiled, "I missed you too, Zeph, but it would be best not to cry or go all soft. Draco and Severus would be most angry with me for encouraging such awful behaviour in a blood-Slytherin."

She giggled and clutched his hand gently, "You need to drink your potion and get some rest; Madam Patil's orders. Then you need to go and get some supper when you wake up again."

He smiled and drank his potion. "Happy now?"

She smirked, "Yes."

"Good, because I'm going to... sleep... now..." He trailed off into slumber.

Zephari giggled and placed the cup back on his tray before going to inform Madam Patil that he had woken and drunk his potion before running off to work on her Charms homework in the common room. She found her comrades hard at work as well and, despite only having woken a week ago, she felt as if she had not missed a beat.

Abe nodded sharply as she sat down in the chair beside his, "Zephari," He said simply.

"Abe," She answered, though irritably, "Stop being so hostile and such a prat. I know you didn't visit me when I was sick and, frankly, I don't care. Just stop acting as if I'm making you sit in a thorny bush every time you speak to me."

He flushed, "Sorry." He muttered and bent over his Transfiguration homework without another word.

"Hey, Zeph, can I copy your Potions essay?" Zoë asked shamelessly.

Zephari raised an eyebrow, "It's due on Monday of next week, Zoë. You have time enough to finish it."

"Bugger." Zoë grumbled.

Zephari smirked and tucked her hair behind her ears and dipped her quill in ink before writing out her short essay. They sat in companionable silence for a few hours, finishing their homework for the next week. It was Friday night and they knew they would get distracted over the weekend what with the parties Alexis and Alexandre had taken to throwing on weekends.

"When are the older students getting back?" Zephari asked curiously, finishing her essay with a flourish.

"Tonight," A voice they all recognized said.

Zephari looked up to see her cousin, Brandy, looming over her. "Wotcher Brandy." She said impishly.

"And hello to you too, Zephari." Ralph said brightly, hugging her lightly.

The arrival of the twenty Gryffindors, amongst them all the youngest and oldest Prefects, brought the rest of the house down to greet their fellows. Zephari watched with amusement as they hugged and those who had been in Hogsmeade announced everything that happened on their end while others informed them of what had happened at Hogwarts.

"Oh, and Professor Corner and Professor Malfoy had a little fun at night, if you know what I mean." Scott finished once silence had fallen with a broad smirk and a wink.

"Eww!" The first years exclaimed in unison.

Zephari looked at Zoë, who knew their Aunt Ginny and Uncle Michael best.

"They haven't been getting along very well," Zoë informed her.

"Mum and Dad filed for a divorce." Brandy informed the younger Weasleys.

Zephari nodded slightly, "Which is why Draco made his move."

"Draco Malfoy doesn't strike me as someone to wait for such a thing to happen." Alexandre muttered acidly.

"Which proves that you don't know him all that well," Zephari informed him, "He'd _never_ chance upsetting Aunt Ginny's marriage, no matter how tempting it was."

"That's good to know." Ralph commented wryly before he and his twin began planning one of the most lavish parties ever witnessed by Gryffindor tower.


	22. A Summer Begins

Dethol rather enjoyed being coddled and cosseted by Padma Patil during his stay in the infirmary. She was a kindly woman and he managed to forget that whenever she came to see him she was always carrying another vile potion. Honestly, potions to heal appeared to be vile as a rule. It was as if all the potion brewers believed wholeheartedly in the phrase 'no pain no gain' except that they had taken it to a level where it became 'no nausea and extreme discomfort no healing'.

"Alright, you're free to go." She told him one morning.

He nearly leapt out of the accursed bed and all the vile potion-filled memories of his stay in the miserably monotone room. The least they could do was paint the walls or put up pretty tapestries of outside so that the patients did not have to be constantly reminded of the reason they were there. Luckily, he had spent the majority of his time in the infirmary in a drug-induced sleep to help heal.

"Stay inside the grounds, Dethol!" She called after him, like a mother to an errant child, "I won't heal you if you run off into the forest and get a limb ripped off."

He chuckled and waved without looking back. Bill had told him to go up to the Headmaster's office as soon as he was allowed to leave the infirmary. Thus, he was heading for the guardian gargoyle. "Weasley Wizard Wheezes." He muttered and it hopped aside.

He went up the spinning staircase, humming a tune to himself. He found it easier to forget what had happened a month prior. When he reached the griffon knocker at the top, he wondered if he would be allowed to take a stroll across the grounds later to enjoy the late May air. The students would be studying, obviously, as they were still expected to pass their exams – which had been significantly lowered in difficulty – and the professors would be teaching. Another professor, by the name of Barbara Barbukle, had replaced him in his teaching duties. He was not to stress himself, Padma had told him sternly.

He knocked on the door and Bill's voice called him in. He entered and the eldest Weasley son suddenly pulled him into a – manly – hug, one hand thumping his back, before they sprang apart. Dethol stared at Bill, who was smiling at him. He saw a bit of worry and, perhaps, a tinge of fear in his eyes as well, which disconcerted him.

"Good to see you back on your feet, Dethol." Bill told him jovially.

Dethol looked evenly at him, "I suppose Charlie told you the events that transpired when he found me." He said.

Bill nodded, though it was not a question, "Yes, and he said that it was highly possible that one of the other Death Eaters had killed Zabini." He said bravely. "I'm afraid we'll never know."

"We _do_ know, though." Dethol muttered.

"And we will not speak a word of that. Self-defence, Dethol, self-defence." His friend murmured.

Dethol sighed in aggravation. He was a killer and all his life he had been taught that killers never changed, so they had to be locked up. He had killed a killer; did that make him any better? He had killed innocents as well, those many years ago during the final battle. Narcissa Malfoy and Blaise Zabini had been on the right side of the battle and he had killed them as well.

A nagging voice at the back of his mind insisted that he had done so out of self-defence as well, as they had approached him with their wands up and ready to stun him. But that had been no reason to kill them. What bothered him the most was the fact that he _could_ use the killing curse at all. Only seriously evil wizards could use it, he had heard. So was he evil?

Bill was looking out the window at the grounds which were full of happy students. Dethol had a strange feeling that he knew what the Headmaster was thinking. Could he be trusted around the students? Could he be trusted around _anyone_? Should he be turned in to the Ministry? The amount of times he would be able to cover for Dethol were diminishing, Dethol knew.

"Oh, and no, Dethol, I won't accept your resignation." Bill broke the silence casually.

Dethol rolled his eyes, "I gathered as much." He muttered.

"Now, go out there and get some sunlight so you stop looking like a ghost." The Headmaster ordered.

Dethol smirked and snapped to attention, saluted and walked out of the office.

* * *

Nearing the middle of June, the tension amongst the students had grown to a level so high that Dethol believed he could cut it with one of the blunt plastic butter knives that muggles made. He had grown irritated with Madam Patil's insisting that he should not stress himself. The truth was that he was spending the majority of his time stressing over what Professor Barbukle could be stuffing into their minds.

That was how he found himself walking past the gamekeeper's hut to the Care of Magical Creatures paddock. He saw the swish of a horse's tail and smiled to himself. Barbukle, a small nervous witch of fifty-some years with fraying greyed blond hair, was trying to get the class of third-years to pay attention to her. Needless to say she was failing miserably as the Gryffindors and Slytherins were talking amongst themselves.

Dethol walked around to the back of the group without being seen. He bent close to the loudest of the groups, the center of which was Kai Malfoy, "I suggest you pay attention when your professor is trying to teach you, Mr. Malfoy, for she, unlike you, can dock house points for misbehaviour." He murmured.

Instant silence fell as the little witch trailed off. The class had begun less than five minutes prior to his arrival and it was obvious that the bumbling little witch had absolutely no idea how to keep Hogwarts students interested, especially during such an important lesson.

"May I?" He asked politely.

She nodded and moved back to join the students.

He stepped forward and climbed over the fence of the paddock where his herd of hippogriffs was watching. He gave them a low bow and they bowed eagerly back, running up to him and preening his hair with their sharp beaks. He patted them each with a small smile before turning to the class. The hippogriffs stepped carefully back except for the lead stallion, the largest of them, who followed him right up to the fence in a protective manner.

"This is Martuth." Dethol announced, motioning to the proud black guarding him, "He is the leader of the resident herd, the biggest and the proudest of them all.

"Now, there is one fundamental thing to remember when dealing with hippogriffs: they are proud creatures. One insult and their sharp beaks and claws – hold up your foot, please, Martuth," He paused and held up the black hippogriff's foot to display the sharp claws, "thank you – will be ripping you to shreds." He let go of the beast's foot and the proud creature placed it regally on the ground, "Some, of course, are more forgiving."

He paused and looked over the class, noticing that four students were not paying attention. "Please, raise your hand if you are paying attention," He continued in the same tone, noting that the four did not, "And step over to this side of the paddock." He motioned to his left.

They did as he bid and he could not help but smirk when the other four students tried to shuffle after them.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Pritchard," He said pleasantly, "Thank you for volunteering."

They stared at him, eyes wide. Malfoy even had the nerve to whisper in his companion's ear. Dethol's smirk grew into a sinister smile as he noticed this, hearing Pritchard's audible gulp. He gave a short whistle and the white-brown pinto female of the herd – or was the proper term a flock? – trotted up beside him.

"Mr. Malfoy, since you decide to ignore my advice once again, I shall take ten points from Slytherin. Oh, and you can go first." He turned and walked back to the rest of the herd, leaving him alone with the hippogriff female.

Larikoo was the most docile of the herd. She did not fight with the others but her quiet attitude had a motherly tinge to it. That was why the others did not bully her, as she was such a kind creature. Not to mention that Martuth would never have allowed that to happen to her, as he was extremely fond of her. She was his favourite female and they had one foal already in the year-long period they had been in the same herd.

Small pure white Mali was the youngest and feistiest male of the group. He was a skittish and rather eccentric pony-sized creature. A red roan female by the name of Tanya was now heavily pregnant with another of Martuth's foals. The only other male that Martuth allowed in his herd, other than his own son, was a chestnut ball of teeth and hooves named Tenron.

In total, the herd was some fifteen hippogriffs.

During his ponderings, which had probably spanned five minutes, Kai Malfoy had not moved. "I told you to come display what Professor Barbukle and I have been explaining, Mr. Malfoy." He said sharply.

The Slytherin prat climbed gingerly over the fence to stand in front of Larikoo. The pinto eyed him with a click of her beak. She obviously distrusted him, which was saying something as she trusted everyone, even Severus Snape when the rest of the herd would happily run him down and tear him to pieces. Tenron was pawing at the ground, ready to defend one of his herd-mates as soon as Martuth told him to.

"Look her in the eyes, Mr. Malfoy. Larikoo is the most docile of the herd, but she won't stand for disrespect." He commanded and the boy obeyed, "Now, bow."

The boy bowed courteously to the pinto, who sank down to her scaly knees in a bow before standing again. She approached and gave his ear a sharp nip.

"Ow!" The idiot cried, rubbing his ear which was no more hurt than if he had been pinched.

"That's to tell you to stop being an insufferable prat, Mr. Malfoy." Dethol told him bluntly, "And don't give me any hysterics like your father did when he encountered hippogriffs thirty-some years ago."

He looked as if he actually planned to do so, but Dethol's eyes narrowed and the boy gently stroked Larikoo's beak. She chirped slightly, then backed away.

"Alright, that's enough for today, Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Weasley – Felix, that is – your turn." Dethol commanded.

By the end of the class all twenty students had gotten acquainted with the tolerant mare. The most exciting part of the class was when Mali darted forward and stole Felix Weasley from his mother then proceeded to preen the boy's hair. Dethol felt rather satisfied that they had gotten the point, as hippogriffs were _always_ in OWL exams.

He dismissed the class with a small smile, yet he called back the four troublemakers. "I hope that you four have learnt your lesson about paying attention. Next time, I won't be as kind as to instruct you on what to do. Even if we are dealing with Thestrals by then," He finished menacingly.

They hurried back to the castle with many nervous glances back to him.

* * *

Zoë danced a little jig on the front steps of the school, "No more exams!" She sang happily, dragging Dante into an attempt at a waltz.

Zephari was laughing at them, but that was cut off short; probably because Liam had grabbed her into a pathetic attempt at a tango. Annabelle and Natasha were laughing and ushering the two dancing pairs down the steps. Zoë released Dante to steal Zephari from Liam. Dante had been a reluctant and slightly clumsy partner, Zephari – now that she had given in – was quite a dancer.

They marched up and down the grounds, spinning and dipping each other alternatively as they horribly destroyed the elegant dance with their left feet. A few of the older students were staring and chuckling as they escaped onto the grounds to make the best of the end of exams. The Slytherin first-years, however, looked most annoyed with the Gryffindors.

Zoë and Zephari stopped and bowed to their fellows' exuberant clapping and cheering.

"So, Potter, you've finally decided to let your bad breeding show through." Veronica snapped.

Zephari's eyes flashed, "Shut up, Parkinson." She growled.

"Yeesh, put a leash on your dog." Veronica told Zoë, ignoring Zephari.

Zoë smirked, "Why would I want to do that, pug?" She asked jovially, patting the shorter girl on the head, "She's so good at making you look like a complete dolt."

Veronica whipped out her wand.

Zoë laughed at her, "What are you going to do, Parky? Hex me?" She asked scornfully.

The Slytherin fumed wordlessly at her and strode off. The Gryffindors smirked as the rest of her house followed.

"I get the feeling this summer won't be so bad after all." Zoë remarked lazily.

"Better have fun while we can. Next year, the Slytherins are going to get a leader." Zephari reminded her.

"Ugh, you just have to spoil my fun don't you?" Zoë whined, "C'mon, let's go tickle the giant squid."

* * *

Zephari watched the countryside streak by through the glass of the train's window with a small feeling of sadness in the pit of her stomach. She already missed Hogwarts, though she had missed so much of her first year. Zoë and Dante kept assuring her that she had not missed much, but she felt as if she had now that they were leaving. She had never thought she would like school as much as she did. It felt weird to be going home to the reserve after spending so much time in the castle.

Her Uncle Bill's end-of-school speech still echoed in her ears:

"_Another year has passed in these grand halls of Hogwarts. We did not learn much about witchcraft and wizardry this year, except that a Dampening Draught is a difficult potion to create and an even harder one to keep in motion. I would like to thank Professor Dethol for personally saving the school this year at the near cost of his own life. I would also like to congratulate our graduating fellows and hope that they will go on to be great wizards and witches in the future. Now, eat and be merry then say your good-byes for tomorrow the school year is officially over and we must part ways until next year or, in some cases, until our paths meet again."_

She smiled slightly at the memory of Dethol's face when he had been acknowledged. He had looked tense, though he obviously appreciated what Bill had said about him. She looked forward to seeing him often over the summer, as Aunt Tonks had written to tell them that she, Dante, Carly and Thomas would be spending the summer at The Burrow with their other cousins, the Malfoys, Dethol, Severus and the Woods.

Zephari privately could not wait for summer to be over and for school to begin anew, this time with Sirius at Hogwarts as well. But, until then, she could survive. Summer was not all that bad, after all.

* * *

The train-ride seemed to last an eternity to Zoë. She saw that Zephari was rather bored as well, her forehead plastered to the glass of the window as the ride went on and on. Dante was asleep, wrapped up in her cloak and with both her Harry and Dante's Ron in her lap. Natasha was holding her head cupped in her hands with her elbows resting on the table, staring glassy-eyed at the wall.

"This is boring." Zoë declared loudly, waking Dante with a snort. "I can't believe Chiharu said the train-ride was entertaining!"

"It's only entertaining on the way _to_ school." Natasha grumbled, tossing a toy snitch in the air and catching it, "And even then it gets rather repetitive by the time the food trolley comes around."

"How much longer do we have to suffer?" Zoë asked, looking out at the window.

"Couple of hours, give or take a few." Zephari informed her, stretching and narrowly missing Zoë's nose. "The snack trolley comes about halfway through the ride,"

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" The trolley witch asked kindly at that exact moment.

Zoë grinned impishly, "Four cauldron cakes, please. My treat," She informed the others, quieting their few protests.

"Too bad Anna's meeting with her Charms club." Natasha observed.

"She'll be back before we reach- Hey Anna!" Zoë called as the blonde girl reappeared. "Make that five, please."

She handed out the cauldron cakes as the Gryffindor girls sat in the cluttered cabin. Zoë wondered why the little rooms were so small. It would be a lot more fun if they were bigger so that larger groups of friends did not have to crowd the corridor. Or perhaps they were small to keep fights from breaking out. That would explain the close quarters.

They chatted amiably as the day stretched on. Prefects went up and down the train, alerting students when they had five minutes to go. Regrettably, Zoë changed out of the school robes she had gotten so fond of into plain old muggle clothes. She saw that the others looked rather reluctant to be reaching King's Cross as well.

The train ground to a halt and Zoë caught Annabelle and Natasha in a hug. Dante followed suite in hugging them then, surprisingly, so did Zephari. The five of them then towed their trunks onto the platform. Zephari dashed back onto the train to get her owl. Zoë and Dante had their sleeping cats lying in a basket attached to their trunks.

The five boys climbed off the train and joined the girls. Liam wrung his hands nervously and Xander looked rather miserable. Abe held out a hand for Zephari to shake, which she did, then nodded pleasantly at the others. Zoë realized that he still probably thought they were going to beat him to a smouldering pulp. Nathaniel stood beside his twin with a regretful smile and James was staring at the platform exit in the dazed look he had worn back when Zoë first met him.

"Well, see you all next year." Zoë said brightly, dragging Zephari off through the archway with Dante on her cousin's other side.

Zoë beamed when she saw Molly and Arthur as well as Harry and Albus waiting for the Weasley children. Zephari ran ahead and hugged her two uncles, Zoë watching somewhat enviously. Dante followed and hugged her grandparents. Nathaniel and Natasha had appeared behind her and she moved out of the way.

"Don't worry; they're here for you too." Nathaniel told her with a small smile.

"How do you know?" Zoë asked in a whisper.

The boy twin grinned at her, "Because they're staring at you and waiting for you to join them." He told her.

Zoë smiled and gave him a small hug. "See you in September." She told him with a bright smile before running off to join her family.

The End

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A/N: Hope you like this first 'book' of my little series. I'll start working on the other 'books' and prequels as soon as I relocate my muse. Please Read and Review, as always.


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